


Hello, How May I Help You? | Lashton

by xdistorted_cliffordx



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Ashton Irwin - Freeform, Ashton Irwin / Calum Hood hate each other, Bottom Ashton, Calum Being an Asshole, Calum Hood - Freeform, Cute, Fluffy, Gay, Hot Topic, Jock Calum, Lashton - Freeform, Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood Friendship, Luke Hemmings - Freeform, Luke Hemmings / Ashton Irwin - Freeform, Luke Hemmings Loves Ashton Irwin, M/M, Michael Clifford & Ashton Irwin Friendship, Michael Clifford & Luke Hemmings Friendship, Michael Clifford - Freeform, Michael Clifford / Calum Hood hate each other, Top Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 12:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 61,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5163344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xdistorted_cliffordx/pseuds/xdistorted_cliffordx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Employees can fall for their costumers, right?</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 to Brianna (@1D_HarryStyles_1D [Wattpad] & @xdistorted_cliffordx [AO3])</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story will switch between Ashton and Luke's POVs only. I got this idea last year when I was folding jeans at work and I finally finished it on Wattpad (@1D_HarryStyles_1D) today! So, I hope you love it as much as I do!

**3 Weeks Earlier**

[Ashton's P.O.V]

"Mum, do I look okay? Do I look like an innocent school boy or do I look punk rock?" I asked, walking out of my room for the thousandth time in the past twenty minutes. 

"Ashton, no matter what you do, you're not going to be punk rock. You're too...you," mum giggled, not looking up from her magazine. 

"I know, but I want to come across as a badass punk rock looking motherfucker," I told her, causing her to finally look at me. 

"Put your contacts in; you look too adorable with your glasses. Oh, and do something with your hair. It's too...something," mum said, scanning over my choice of outfit. 

"Um, okay?" 

I went back into my room and put in my contacts. I searched my room to find something to do with my hair. All I had were hats, bandanas, and mum or Lauren's stray ponytail binders. I, for one, knew that a fedora was not punk rock or badass on any level. I went back out to mum, seeing that she was now watching E!. 

"What are you suggesting I do with my hair? I'm not exactly educated in the subject of hair styling. Or a girl," I told her. 

"You're gay; you should know things like this," she sighed, getting up from the couch and took off towards my room. 

Yes, I'm openly gay. I'm not flamboyant to the point where I parade around and tell everyone I see, but most people know it. Unlike most people think, I've never had a boyfriend. People always seemed to think that I was dating my best friend Michael Clifford since we were always together, but I could never date him. I look at Michael as more of a brother and people don't date their brothers. That would be considered incest. 

"Here," mum said, shoving a red bandana at me. 

"You want me to wear this to a job interview?" I asked her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Don't question me, my sweet boy. I'm more punk rock than you and I'm a single mother," mum said, continuing to hit my abdomen with her hand with the bandana in it. 

I took it from her and wrapped it around my head, getting my hair positioned so I looked somewhat put together. But then mum went and messed up my masterpiece, claiming that I had made something that was supposed to be badass look cute and adorable. 

"Mum, you're going to make me look like a homeless person," I complained as she continued pulling at my hair. 

"No, honey, I'm going to make you look punk rock. Good God, you think I'm going to soil my son's opportunity to make himself lose the I'm-Less-Frightening-Than-A-Kitten image?" mum said, a smile forming on her face as she put her hands on her hips. "There's my gay punk son that I've always wanted." 

"Gee, I'm glad you love me now," I scoffed, a smirk tugging at my lips. She pulled me into a tight and restricting hug, making me grunt at the tight grip she had on me. 

"Oh, baby, I've always loved you! I am so happy you finally look like you can kick someone's ass instead of stand there and cry into your little sweater paws or whatever you call them," she said, giving me numerous kisses on my cheeks, in which I grimaced. 

"There is nothing wrong with sweater paws!" I said, lightly panting when she let go of me. 

Before either of us could say anything more, I heard a car beeping outside of the house, signaling that Michael had shown up to take me to my interview. Mum looked at me, tears forming in her eyes. 

"Don't you dare give me another life threatening hug. I need to actually be alive to get the job!" I told her, causing her to smile. 

"You're going to get that job, my sweet son. That's your domain; own it," she told me. 

I bid her goodbye, grabbing my jacket and phone, and ran out to Michael's awaiting vehicle. I hadn't even put my seatbelt on and he was speeding away from the curb. 

"Cool your jets, Clifford. Your hair is getting redder," I joked, buckling up. 

"Shut up. If you would have been any slower, we both would've been late," he said. 

Michael had been my best friend since we were toddlers. Actually, I hated him for a few years, but that obviously changed. He worked at Hot Topic in the mall, where I had an interview this afternoon. He always would say how awesome and amazing his job was, so it made me want to work there over any place else. Just a few days ago, he had told me that there was an opening for a sales associate and that I should apply because it would be fun to work together. So, I did. 

When I had gotten the call that they would like to set up an interview, Michael had sent me his work schedule for the next two weeks, demanding I set it up when he was working. It was only him and his boss working today, so he told me that I could potentially start training if I got the job, since that was what happened to him when he was hired a few months ago. 

"I think we should listen to Green Day or something amazing so I get in the badass punk mood?" I asked Michael. 

He just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I have American Idiot in the player. You're taking this thing way to seriously. Just be yourself and he'll either like you or not." 

"What? I'm not taking this too seriously. I'm just preparing myself," I told him. 

"You've been preparing since Pete called you. Take a break. It won't kill you," he instructed me. 

We listened to the Green Day CD, both of us singing along quietly. I took Michael's advice for the most part, but I still worried a litle bit. Any normal person would. Michael pulled into the mall and parked in the lot that must be closest to Hot Topic. 

He got out of the car, grabbing his keys and other belongings from the car's console. He looked at me, his green eyes sparkling. "Are you coming or are you waiting for Christmas? Because you have like, five months to go." 

I stuck my middle finger up at him and got out of the vehicle, following him as we walked towards a back door. I felt like I shouldn't have been going this way since it said "Mall Employees Only" and I wasn't one yet. I felt illegal. 

I hadn't ever known that these halls were back here, let alone that there were secret elevators! They weren't extravagant and luxiurious; they were small, cramped, and old. Michael hit the button for the second floor and the elevator took off, all crickety and rather frightening. They were faster than I expected though. 

When we got out of the small and old box, it was just a long hallway that led to a door that would be the entrance into the mall. As we walked down it, I could see the shoppers passing by through the skinny little window in the door. Carefully, Michael pushed the door open and we went out into the sea of people. It took me a minute to figure out where we were, but when I did, I realized that we were just a few stores down from Hot Topic. It's amazing how turned around a secret passageway can make you. 

Just before we entered the store, Michael stopped me. He put his hands on my biceps and looked deep into my eyes. I felt like he was going to suck my soul out from how intense he was acting. 

"I can guarantee you that you will be fine. He looks a bit intimidating, but I promise you that Pete is a really cool guy and I know you'll get along great with him. Be yourself, Irwin," he told me. A smile spread across his face. "Let me know how it goes when you're done, okay?" 

"Okay. Thanks, Clifford," I said, returning his smile. 

\----

"Well, Ashton, I feel like you would fit in great here. You've got a great personality and you look pretty approachable, which is good. The rest of the team is going to like you hands down because I like you and I don't normally like people right off the bat," Pete smiled. "I know you're friends with Mikey. He's mentioned you a few times, all good. I have a pretty good feeling about you since Michael is a very good employee." 

"Thank you, Mr. Welsh," I said with a smile. 

"Mr. Welsh is my dad. Please, I'm begging you, call me Pete," he said with a chuckle. "I'll have a chat with my other manager, Andrew, and I'll give you a call before Friday, alright?" 

"Yeah, that's great, thank you," I said. 

Pete rose up from his chair and I followed suit. He led the way out of the backroom and Michael looked back from the wall of band shirts, waiting for me to give him an answer. I just smiled and made a gesture towards Pete and Michael went back to refolding the shirts. 

"Alright, it was really great to meet you, Ashton. I will talk to you in a few days," Pete said, a genuine smile making his snake bites glint in the dull light. He stuck out his hand and I took it. 

"Thank you for your time, Pete," I said. 

After Pete walked over to a bunch of teenage girls, I beelined my way over to the counter where Michael was now repricing wristbands. He looked up at me and got a smirk on his face. "How'd it go? Did he hire you on the spot?" 

"No, he said he'd call in a few days. Other than that, I think I impressed the socks off of him," I told the red haired boy. 

"That's good. Too bad he didn't give you an answer today. You could've helped me mark stuff for clearance," he chuckled. 

"I suppose I could put it out on the shelf if you want," I told him. "If I'm allowed to." 

"I don't see why you wouldn't be. It's not like I'm letting you use the price gun," he said. He pushed a pile of wristbands towards me and instructed me where they should go.

I went over to the wristband wall and tried my best to arrange them neatly, but you can only do so much. As I was hanging up a blue All Time Low bracelet, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Expecting it to be Pete telling me that I shouldn't be doing Mikey's work, I felt my heart sink to my stomach. But when I looked up, I saw that it was a teenage girl with black hair accented with green streaks. 

"Hello," I said, wondering what the girl wanted. She looked sweet and I was hoping that I wouldn't have to give her rejection. 

"I was looking online and saw that there were Sleeping With Sirens shirts on sale and they're not on the wall. Could you tell me where they would be?" the girl asked. My mouth almost fell open in shock, but I held it closed, seeing that Pete was just a few feet away from us. 

"If it's not on the wall, I would say it's back on these racks. What size are you looking for?" I asked, leading her back to the three round racks. 

"A medium or large," she said. 

I went over to the medium and large section and began sifting through the shirts. I found a SWS shirt and took it off of the rack, holding it up for her to see. "Is this the one you were looking for?" 

"Oh my God! That's exactly the one! Thank you so much!" she said, taking the t-shirt from me and then went off towards the other section of the store. 

I was going to go back to the wristband wall, but I saw Pete walking towards me. I felt my heartrate pick up and looked over to Mikey, who had a rather horrified expression on his face. I swallowed the lump in my throat, stopping as Pete approached me, the man suddenly looking larger than before.

"So, I saw that you helped that young lady find that shirt. Not only did you have good salesmanship, but you also found the exact shirt she was looking for without her showing it to you," Pete started saying, his tattoo covered arms now crossed across his large chest. "Plus, I saw that you were doing some of Mikey's work."

I glanced over at Mikey, who blushed and looked away from us, continuing to price clearance items. "I'm sorry, Pete, I was just trying to be helpful since he's my ride home and I didn't want to be rude to that gi-"

"Don't be sorry for being a good employee," he said.

"W-what?" I stammered, feeling my eyes widen.

"You got the job. Welcome to the Hot Topic team, Ashton."

\----


	2. Chapter 1

**3 Weeks Later**

[Ashton's POV]

"Hey, Ashton," Pete said from the counter as I walked into the deserted store.

"Hello, hello, Pete!" I said with a smile on my face.

"So, a lot of returns have come in today. Well, everyone who has come in has been returning stuff, so yeah. It's been pretty slow too," Pete explained.

"You do realize that we've only been open for three hours, right?" I chuckled.

"It's only been that long? Damn. It's been a long morning," Pete said as the realization hit him. "That means I have like, eight hours until I'm off."

I lightly laughed at his small bout of suffering. I must be an evil person if I'm laughing at my favorite boss' suffering. I went around the counter, seeing a small pile of merchandise, giving off the illusion that the cash register was having a garage sale.

"You just need to retag and sensor the expensive stuff," Pete told me.

Both of us worked in silence without any costumers coming in to divert our attention. I have only worked alone with Pete twice before while all the other times have included Michael as well. I wasn't used to the quietness since Mikey and I always talked and goofed off with each other or we were usually busy. Though, it's amazing how much work I'm getting done.

"You probably already know this since you and Mikey have a telepathic connection or some shit, but I called Michael to come in at like, one-ish," Pete said, breaking my intense focus.

"Why would you call him in if nobody's here?" I asked, once again wondering the method to that man's madness.

Pete turned towards me, looking at me with a duh expression. "Because I'm hungry a lot. I'm a fat man and need to indulge on Sbarro's more often than you skinny wankers. Jesus, Ash. I thought we had an understanding."

Before I could say anything more, Michael came into the store, a smug look on his face. "I can tell you missed me, Irwin."

I ran to him, jumping on him and gave him a koala hug and kissed his cheeks, trying to be all dramatic while he cringed. "Oh, Mikey! I never thought I would see you until tomorrow!" 

"Can you boys turn down the gayness?" Pete piped in.

"Are you jealous, Petey?" I joked as I got off of Michael.

"No. I have a loving cat who will give me plenty of love when I get home," he said. 

Michael and I exchanged looks and I sneakily ran up behind my beefy boss and jumped on his back, earning a surprised grunt from him. Pete turned around, trying to get me off his back, but I wasn't about to break free. I'm like a leech, dammit.

"Get the hell off me, you wanker!" Pete demanded, trying to be angry, but ended up laughing. 

"You know you like, Petey Poo!" I said through my hysterics. 

"Ashton Fletcher Irwin!" 

Immediately, the three of us quit laughing and turned towards the door, me still on Pete's back. "Mum, what are y-" 

"Nevermind that. Have you not listened to a word I've ever said?" mum asked. Soon, my siblings Harry and Lauren showed up behind her. "You should know that you can't get a boyfriend if you physically attack him! He's too old for you anyway. No offense, sir." 

"Mum, he's my boss!" We were just goofing off!" I told her, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "Can you like, leave?!" 

"Okay, okay. But we're coming back later, whether you like it or nah," mum said. I facepalmed immediately. I hated when she tried to act "hip" in front of my new friends a.k.a my boss. "Remember the dressing rooms aren't for sex, my sweet boy and friends!" 

That woman can embarrass you with just one word. 

No wonder we're related.

\----

Business picked up within the next hour, keeping us busy. After mum embarrassed the hell out of me, Pete had went out to Sbarro's and got all three of us a slice of pizza and smoothies from Orange Julius. He said he felt bad that I had to deal with my mother, so he thought I deserved it. Pete never got us food. It was always for himself. It wouldn't matter if he got too much and couldn't eat it because he claimed that he didn't like people enough to give them his food. But now that he had bought me food, I feel like we have a true bond; a true connection. Pizza was the thing that tied us together.

"Ash, can you help Mikey with the registers?" Pete called out as he carried a box into the back room.

"Yes, Sir Pete!" I responded.

I went behind the register that was next to Michael, seeing that he was flirting with the teal-haired girl he was checking out, no pun intended. A brunette came up to my register, setting down her armful of band merch onto the counter and dramatically flipped her hair over her shoulder with a flirty smile. 

"Good afternoon, dear. Did you find everything you could've ever wanted?" I asked with a playful smile as I began scanning the items. 

"That and more. How much will it cost me to buy you?" the girl flirted, puffing out her chest so her cleavage was more noticeable. 

I brought my eyes up from the Misfits shirt I was scanning. The girl had a flirty smile and an eager look in her blue eyes. She was pretty, but I wasn't interested in her cleavage or her gender. Was she in for a mind fuck. 

"Oh, darling, how cute," I chuckled. I heard Mikey trying to hide his laughter next to me. The girl got confused expression. "I'm afraid I'm not for sale unless you're a very hot and sexy man such as Channing Tatum."

"Wha-wait. You're gay?" she asked. She looked like I just told her that I was Harry Styles secret lover. I wish.

"As gay as Tyler Oakley," I nodded. 

The girl's cheeks flushed a bright red and she immediately shut up. I couldn't help but smile to myself at her reaction. It was rude of me to find it even remotely funny, but she was asking for it by throwing herself at me. 

"Your total is going to b-" I started, but the girl threw her credit card at me, avoiding my eyes.

"Just put it on the card," she grumbled, applying lip gloss to her lips. 

I slid the card and bagged the items, in which she tried to rip from my hands, I wouldn't let go. She looked at me with a scowl, trying to pull it away. 

"Please let go," she sneered. 

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. It's just how I am and didn't mean to embarrass you intentionally. You did that all by yourself, hun," I apologized.

"Whatever," she scoffed and began walking off. 

"If you ever grow a hoo-ha between your legs, I'll surely reconsider!" I shouted after her, causing the girl's cheeks to turn redder than Michael's hair and the other shoppers to stare at me, some laughing and others scowling in disgust. Fucking homophobes.

I straightened out some of the items by the reiser, listening to Michael hopelessly flirt with this girl. His terrible awkwardness was making me laugh. She must've either found it cute or thought it was funny as hell because she's been standing there for quite awhile now. 

"I go to the gym, y'know. I can deadlift 150 now," he flirted, nonchalantly looking at his nonexistant muscles. "Do you want to feel them?"

That was it. I can't his Godawful flirting any longer.

"Honey, don't waste your time. You're going to be awfully disappointed," I chimed in, earning a glare from Michael. "Mikey, I'm doing this for your own good. You don't want the poor girl to be standing at the alter when you get married, thinking you can deadlift 150 when realistically, it's probably ten." 

"You can butt the fuck out, Ashtoff," Michael said through gritted teeth. If looks could kill, I would certainly be dead. At least I would die laughing.

I sent him a smile. "My name is Ashton. You should know this by now; we've been friends for eons," I looked towards the girl. "The lad can't even remember his own best friend's name. Good luck in bed." 

"Ashton, shut your damn mouth," Michael hissed. 

"No need to get mad, Mikey. I'm just trying to save your future marriage. The girl doesn't want to marry a white liar that will mess up her name during sexy time. It's elementary, my dear, Clifford," I replied, watching him get angrier and angrier. I turned to the girl again. "I hope everything works out with Mikey. He's really the perfect guy to spend the rest of your life with if you can get over those few little faults. Oh, and the fact that he tends to wet himself during sex." 

"Um, Michael, I have to get going. It was...nice meeting you," the girl said awkwardly, her long teal hair swinging over her shoulder as she turned to walk away with her small bag. She looked back at me with a weird expression on her face. "You too, Ashton." 

"Penelope, wait! You didn't get my number!" Mikey called after her. 

"Maybe some other time, Michael," she said, quirking her eyebrows. 

When "Penelope" left the store, Michael's glare settled on me. I sent a shy smile and giggle, thankful that the counter was separating us. 

"She seemed sweet," I squeaked, a small and fearful smile on my face. 

"You. Are. Fucking. Dead," he growled. 

My eyes widened and my mouth formed an "o". He the jumped over the counter and I quickly ran around the small store to avoid getting tackled by him. Costumers gave us funny looks as I shoved clothes racks at him, which I expected, but then the people wouldn't get out of the damn way and it pissed me off. When I got to the circular clearance racks, I quickly grabbed a furry roleplaying bra from its hanger and slung it at him. "Taste the power of the bra, Clifford!" 

I went to continue running, but there was a wall and obviously was unable to go any further. Suddenly, a heavy weight was on my back and I fell to the ground, laughing as soon as Michael started tickling my sides. I tried to wriggle from his grip, but he was straddling me with his strong ass legs and it made it impossible. 

"This is isn't Boys Gone Wild, mates," Pete said casually as he walked by. 

Michael got off me, both of us laughing. "You're a real bastard."

""Payback's a bitch," Mikey smirked.

"So are you."

\----

Pete gave us some of the new shipments to unpack and load onto the shelves once business died down again. Pete probably wanted us separated because he didn't want us to scare off the costumers. As if my cute and adorableness could scare off anyone. Michael on the other hand...

I was contently hanging up lanyards when the bell chimed and I heard a group laughing as they walked in. I heard someone whispering my name and I looked over the rack at Michael. 

"What on God's green Earth could you possibly want from me?" I answered.

"Can you help them? I need to get these shirts done so Pete doesn't get pissed at me," he requested. 

"Ugh, fine, you needy bitch," I agreed, rolling my eyes with a sirk.

I slowly walked over, seeing it was a group of boys from school which made me tense up. It was a popular group, which always made me uncomfortable, not just because some of them were very sexy, but because of their extreme social status. 

As you probably assumed, I am not part of the popular crowd. I was too awkward, unsocial, and shockingly not attractive enough (even though some of them look like a dog's asshole) to be apart of it. That and we never got along. They were twats to me, so hot damn, I'm going to be a twat back. Though, I was normally as sweet as cookie dough ice cream to everyone else. 

My hands were a bit clammy as I approached them and I swallowed the lump in my throat. "H-hi, guys. D-do you need help looking for anything in particular?" 

One of them, Calum Hood, looked at me sporting the expression that I had just ruined his damn day. I'll have you know, bitch, that I make people's day, unlike you.

"Hey! Look guys; it's that antisocial nerd from school!" Calum said, causing all of the guys to laugh. "I didn't think you knew how to speak, nerd." 

"If I was antisocial, why would I be out of the comforts of my comfy and warm bed? And if I was a nerd, why would I be working and not studying? You need to get your facts together, son," I huffed. "Now, do you need my assistance or not?" 

"We'd rather have help from someone who knows a thing or two about bands," Calum spat, an insulting smirk on his face. 

I mentally flicked him off as I walked away because I know that he would threaten to get me fired if I did the real thing. I went back to the lanyard wall to finish what I was doing and I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked up, seeing Michael giving me an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't know it was the Dick Pack. If I would've, I would've taken it," Mikey apologized, folding the last blink-182 shirt. 

"It's fine. They would've found some way to pull their dick moves on me anyway," I snorted. 

When I was done with the lanyards, I went back behind the counter to put the empty box away and sign my name off on the sheet before my next chore. As I scribbled down Ashy :) (because it bothers Pete and I like bothering people), someone approached the counter. I was ready to throw an insult, but when I looked up, my breath hitched and I felt my stomach flutter with a herd of butterflies. 

Standing before me was the hottest man I have ever seen in person. I knew he was with the Dick Pack, but I unfortunately have never seen him before now. I would've remembered someone with that much beauty. 

"Hello, how may I help you?" I asked, my voice slightly cracking, as I looked into the big and shiny blue eyes of the mystery sexy boy.

"Yeah, do you have that Green Day shirt in a size large?" 

I don't know if the shirt's large, but I know I am.

\----


	3. Chapter 2

[Ashton's P.O.V]

I sat down at my usual lunch table, waiting for Michael to get his slow ass down here from his English class. Whatever, I guess. It gives me more time to think about that sex god that came into Hot Topic yesterday. 

I came to conclusions that Mr. Sexy didn't go to school with me because I haven't seen him hanging with the Dick Pack at all today. That made me happy, but sad. Happy in the sense that, if by God's graces he went to this school, he didn't value the Dick Pack to be that good of friends. It made me sad, however, that he wasn't hanging at Calum's locker, who was directly across from me in the locker bay, and I wasn't able to stare longingly at the broad shouldered, sexy, quiffed blonde and drool over his heavenly looks.

"Earth to Ashton."

I looked up, shaking my head out of its daydream, to see Michael standing there, his red hair poking out of the bottom of his backwards snapback, I patted the table, inviting him to sit down. 

"You got a little drool there," he smirked as he sat. "What -or should I say who- were you thinking about?" 

"Mmm...nobody," I said, my chin resting on my hands with a toothless smile on my face. 

"It was me, wasn't it? Oh, Ash, how touching," he joked, taking a large bite of the Godawful burrito. 

"Mikey, I mean this in the nicest way possible; you're too ugly for my adorable self," I told him with a straight face, looking him intensely in the eye. 

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Mikey responded saracastically with an eyeroll. 

We continued eating our lunch in silence, a few smartass comments thrown around. Usually, I would've eavesdropped on the wannabe preppy girls so I could make fun of them with Michael later, but my mind kept drifting to the boy from the store.

"So, who was that guy you were helping out yesterday?" Mikey asked, almost like he was reading my mind. 

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific," I told him, even though I knew exactly who he was talking about. 

"Bitch, please. It was pretty obvious that you liked him and if I know you as well as I think I do, you wouldn't have forgotten him as soon as he left. I'm actually quite surprised you aren't fangirling over him to me right now," he told me. That boy could read me better than a pizza menu, I swear. 

"One, I'm a boy and I do not fangirl; I fanboy. Two, since I have been working at Hot Topic for three weeks, where many fine ass guys come in, I have learned that I must not take my strong-willed attraction seriously and just treat them as if they were ugly like you, no offense," I explained to him. Michael quirked his eyebrow. "That means you need to explain what the hell this guy looks like."

"The guy who came in with the Dick Pack and his hair was quiffed up about thirty meters. The guy was like, eighty percent legs," Michael explained, using hand motions. "I don't know how you wouldn't be able to remember. He was a fine piece of meat."

I just rolled my eyes. Michael was pretty confident about his sexuality, despite all of his gay moments. A few years ago though, he did want to experiment with a boy because he was curious and wanted to make sure that he was actually straight. Yes, I, unfortunately, was the test dummy and had Michael's Cheeto flavored mouth on mine. Thankfully, his mind was made ater that one kiss. That is the only time I will ever thank God for boobs. If Mikey wouldn't have been overly-obsessed with them, then we would have been together. He would've been a terrible boyfriend because he was so lazy. That and it would've been like dating my brother. Disgusting.

"Yeah, I know who you're talking about," I said, not being able to hide my smile.

"I knew it! Don't even deny it! I know that smile; that smile is of you being whipped!" Mikey said, getting all cocky. 

"Oh, shut up. If you say anymore, you're head will get too big and then it will explode," I said, feeling embarrassed. 

"So, what's mystery boy's name?" he asked, clearly enjoying the view of me squirming. Dick.

"How in fuck should I know? I talked to him for five minutes to find the shirt he wanted. I didn't get his damn life story!" I snapped. 

"I'm sure you don't remember the shirt that he wanted," he smirked.

My cheeks flushed because I did. It was my favorite Green Day shirt that we sold. Not because he was going to wear it or anything... "NO!"

"Don't think I didn't notice you trying to act all sexy when you climbed the ladder to get it down," he continued. 

"Well, excuse me for trying to be a good employee and get the damn shirt without falling and splitting my head open," I scoffed. 

"Ash, you're embarrassed," Mikey chuckled.

"I am not, asshole!" I defended. 

"I would agree with you if your cheeks weren't red. And you tend to act like you're on your period when you get all embarrassed," Michael pointed out. I responded with a glare and a pout as I slumped back in my chair. "All shit aside, do you know if he goes to this Hell hole?" 

I shook my head. "I haven't seen him lurking around Calum's locker."

"Why did you look at that twat's locker? Maybe they're not even friends," he grimaced. 

"Because he was with them yesterday and everyone in Calum's group goes to his locker for some odd reason," I pointed out. I don't know why he wouldn't believe me; I have to see all of them every damn day. 

"Fine. Maybe they're not as good of friends as you thought," he said, rolling his eyes. "Just page him down to the office."

"There is two large problems with that. One, that is completely weird and something you would do. Two, I. Don't. Know. His. Name," I responded.

"You take the fun out of everything," he whined.

"Babe, I'm the definition of fun."

\----

Michael and I had come up with a plan after school let out and both of us overheard the Dick Pack talking. Apparently, they were going to be at the mall by four. Michael and I didn't have to work until five, so we were going to go see if Mystery Boy was with them.

It was all Michael's idea and I felt like a complete creep walking around the food court and scanning over everone there. Mikey thinks that I have this huge crush on this lad when I really don't. I just think he's extremely sexy. 

"Find 'em yet?" someone asked from behind me, making me jump. I turned around with an annoyed expression and saw Michael eating McDonald's. 

"You decide that this is a good time to eat?" I sneered. 

"It's less creepy if you have food," he said, taking a bite of the cheeseburger. 

I rolled my eyes, wanting to slap him for making me do this in the first place. "He isn't here, so let's just give it up."

"You haven't even looked! You could be missing out on a surprise run-in with your true love. Since when did Ashton Irwin give up?" Mikey asked, tugging at my sleeve with his greasy fingers. Nasty.

"Ashton Irwin didn't give up on true love; he gave up on becoming a stalker because he doesn't want to sit in jail for the rest of his life," I retorted. 

"Fine. It's your love life you're screwing over," Mikey sighed dramatically. "Don't come crying to me when you're single and all alone with ninety cats while I'm living it up in my secluded mancave."

"One, I'm allergic to cats. Two, you'd be single too," I pointed out.

"Fine; dogs. And who needs anyone when you have video games, a couch, and a pizza?" he said.

"Neither of us."

"Shut up. You need people, I don't."

\----


	4. Chapter 3

[Luke's POV]

I laid on my bed, stretching out my back, feeling all the knots crack. I didn't think I would be this bored today. I thought my homework would take up a good chunk of the afternoon, but it was only pre-calc and I was pretty good at that, so I got it done rather quickly, much to my misfortune. That's why I declined Calum's invitation to the mall. Well, and the fact that he was a dick to all the employess and rather disrespectful to the girls the last time we were there. If I would have other friends, I wouldn't hang out with him and his group, but since I'm a new student and didn't get around to do much socializing yet, Calum's the only one I got.

Mum, Dad, Ben, or Jack weren't going to be home for a while yet, so it was just going to be me in this house of boredom. I knew mum would tell me to go join Calum at the mall since she thinks he's a perfect angel. If I did call him, I felt like he would embarrass me in front of his stupid group of friends, not out of douche baggery; it's just how he is. 

As I was lying there, staring at the ceiling, my mind wandered back to my previous mall visit. It was a few days after I moved in the house next to Calum, so it was my first time out on the town with my first friend from this place. I thought it would be fun for him to give me a tour around, considering he seemed to be a pretty cool dude, but then he invited his lot of friends that I didn't know nor like. When he was with them, he was a completely different person; he was terrible and embarrassing to be around. Their disrespectfulness got so bad, I tried my best to discreetly distance myself from them when they were harrassing people. I've never felt more bad for people in my life.

I just know I need new friends. 

Letting out a huff, I sat up and grabbed my Vans, quickly slipping them on. I hurried down to the kitchen, retrieving the keys to my old beater and went outside, making sure that the door was locked. I was pretty sure I remembered my way to the mall. 

I was sick of being alone. So what if Calum embarrassed me? YOLO.

\----

Surprisingly, I haven't run into Calum & Company after I texted him and told him that I decided to come to the mall. I didn't feel like hunting them out, so I was walking around the place, trying to find a store that I wouldn't be bored out of my skull in. I would've stopped at one of the directories that were scattered throughout the middle of the wide hallway, but there was a flock of old women at everyone of them and I didn't feel like fighting through a sea of estrogen. As I passed the next directory, a dark store front in between Victoria's Secret and some other girly store caught my eye and I quickened my pace to get into it. This place was my haven. If Calum was seriously my friend, he would know that I would be here.

I went into the empty store, thankful that blink-182 was keeping the awkward silence away. This Hot Topic was one of the least busiest ones that I've seen in my seventeen years of life. Both times I've been here, there hasn't been many, if any, costumers. Awkwardly, I continued into the store, glancing up at the far wall at some band shirts, trying my best to act natural. 

"Hey, welcome to the dark side. It's good to know that an apocolypse hasn't happened while I'm trapped in here."

I looked to where the voice was coming from, seeing a colorful haired boy scribbling something down behind the register. "If one happened, then it would be news to me too."

I wandered over to the wristbands, wondering if they had a Sleeping With Sirens one. I scanned over the organized mess of bracelets, not seeing any SWS ones. Knees popping, I got up from my crouch and quickly rounded the corner to look at the other side, only to jump backwards after scaring both me and the employee that was restocking. 

"Jesus, I am so sorry!" the shaggy haired blonde boy apologized as he fell backwards onto his bum.

"Hey, you can just call me Luke," I chuckled. "Are you okay?" 

The employee looked up at me, moving his hair out of his eyes. A surprised expression formed on his face. Did I know him? Other than the fact that he helped me yesterday, I've never seen him in my life. I reached my hand out. "Do you need help?" 

"Um, sure," he hesitated, grabbing onto my hand with his abnormally long fingers. "Thanks."

"No problem..." I trailed.

"Ashton," he said with a small smile. "You're Luke?" 

"Since the day my mum gave birth to me," I nodded, glad to maybe be making a new friend, even if he wasn't at my school. 

"Well, Luke, can I help you find anything?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, do you have any Sleeping With Sirens wristbands?" I asked.

"Yep," he answered, immediately yanking a bracelet from one of the posts. "Is this what you were looking for?"

I looked at the bracelet, pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. This was almost exactly what I pictured myself finding, falling in love with, and buying. 

"You okay, Luke?" Ashton asked. I quickly looked at him and nodded.

"This is perfect, thanks," I quickly responded.

"Is that all you needed today or do you need help hunting anything else down?" he asked after another awkward bout of me admiring the bracelet as if it were a rare find. 

"Oh, um, yeah, I'm done," I answered, backing out of the aisle so Ashton could get through. 

I stood at the counter as Ashton got ready to ring me up. In a way, I was kind of upset that Calum hadn't shown up or tried contacting me to find out where I was at. But in another light, I was happy he didn't. The last time they were in here, they bullied poor Ashton and I didn't want that to happen again. They'd probably target his punk friend this time as well. 

"Have I seen you around Richmond High School?" the red haired boy piped up, a smile forming on his face. 

"Yeah, you might've. I just started there today," I told him. "You go there as well, I'm guessing?" 

"That I do. So does Ashy here," the boy said, patting the blonde's shoulder. 

I looked at Ashton, who was glaring at his friend and had flushed cheeks. Must be easily embarrassed. Cute. "Are you guys in Year Eleven by chance?" 

"Yeah! You too?" he asked. I nodded.

"That's awesome. You guys seem to be the only cool ones," I told them.

"You obviously haven't hung around Calum Hood long enough," Ashton scoffed. I opened my mouth to respond, but Ashton's friend beat me to it. 

"I'm Michael," he said, sticking his hand out.

"Luke."

"And I'm sure you know this is Ashton?" Michael smiled, gesturing to the blushing boy.

\----


	5. Chapter 4

[Ashton's POV]

I hurried into my chemistry class, seeing that Michael was already at our shared table, his book open but it was obvious that he was on his phone. I sat down next to him, not phasing him until I slammed his book shut. 

"Oh, hey," he said tiredly. 

"I'm guessing you need the answers to the homework?" I asked.

"You see, normally I would nod and hurry you to take it out, but I don't have the energy and I'm in an intense round of Trivia Crack with my mother," he told me, looking back down at his phone.

I rolled my eyes and got out my work anyway, knowing we were going to have to turn it in as soon as the final bell rang. I was checking over my answers as any good student should, when someone tapped my shoulder. I looked up, being greeted with a pair of heavenly blue eyes. 

"Hey, Ashton, right?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," I answered, feeling my heart flutter. "Hi."

"Hi, do you know where, um, Mr..." he trailed and looked down at his folded piece of paper. "Mr. Pettis is? I need to let him know that I'm here."

"Usually, he's talking to Cooper, the biology teacher, before he comes in here. They're usually out in the hall, so you could check out there," I told him. 

"Okay. Do you mind if I set my stuff down here?" he asked. 

"Yeah, sure go ahead," I agreed, moving my books over so he could set his next to mine. 

He rushed out into the hall and I felt a pair of eyes on me, burning into the side of my head. I slowly looked over, seeing that Michael was staring at me with a creepy derp smirk on his face. I tried not to laugh, but it was difficult because he looked so stupid with it. 

"So...your boy is in our class?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

"He is not my boy and yes he is," I told him, rolling my eyes. 

"Better not ditch me, bitch," he said. 

"How can I ditch you when we were assigned lab partners and I have absolutely no choice?" I asked him. 

"I'm just saying; if you ditch me, I will not hesitate to kill a bitch," he said.

The final bell rang and everyone, aside from Luke, got into their assigned seats, the dull chatter remaining as it usually did. Though, Mr. Pettis decided that he would come into class earlier than he usually did, causing everyone to shut their mouths and straighten up as if the old coot was going to whip us into shape if we didn't. Following the old man was Luke, looking more nervous than he did when he talked to me. He actually looked as if he was about to hurl.

"Good morning, class. I would like to introduce our new classmate that will be joining us for the remainder of the year. Introduce yourself, son," Mr. Pettis instructed Luke, stepping back and let Luke have the floor. I felt bad for him having to be put on the spot like that, especially with thirty pairs of eyes staring at you, making you feel like some zoo animal. 

"I-I'm Luke Hemmings," he stuttered, his voice barely above a mumble, but it was perfectly clear in this quiet room. 

"Welcome to chemistry, Mr. Hemmings," he said to him and then turned to the class. "He started yesterday, but this is his first day with this set of classes, so please make him feel welcome like the good lot of teenagers you are." 

"Um, where would you like me to sit?" Luke asked awkwardly, his cheeks starting to flush. 

"Why don't you have a seat next to Ms. Watkins over there? She'll be your lab partner for the rest of the semester, so make friends," Mr. Pettis said.

I tried my hardest not to cringe when he said Luke's partner. Mindy Watkins was the common white girl and stereotypical dumb and popular blonde. She was annoying as all hell, slept around with whatever guy would want to (which is most of the jocks), and was an absolute airhead that would not stop talking. Don't get me wrong; she's a sweet person, but she's just that type of stupid that makes you facepalm in hopes to keep your IQ from dropping any less. 

\----

The bell rang and Michael and I slowly went back to our desk to gather our things while the herd emptied out of the classroom. We put our labs in our folders and were the last to leave, on our way to lunch. As we were walking down the hall, I heard someone calling my name. I stopped, throwing my arm out to stop Michael, and turned around to see who wanted me, only to find Luke waving at me. 

"Do you guys have lunch right now?" he asked when he caught up to us. 

"Yeah, we do. Do you want to sit with us?" Michael asked. I nonchalantly and discreetly shot a glare over to him. 

"Really? That would be great! As much fun as hanging out in the music room was yesterday, I felt a little awkward with the class that was in there," he laughed. Damn, his laugh was beautiful. 

"Consider this your formal invitation to sit with us everyday," Michael chuckled. 

I have never glared at someone so hard in my life. 

"Okay, I need to go put my things in my locker quick. I'll meet you back here?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Michael said, smiling. 

Luke went off towards the locker bay and I just glared at Michael ruthlessly. How dare he do this to me. I'm going to humiliate myself and find myself never being able to have a chance with Hottie McHotterson because of him. I need new friends, I swear.

\----


	6. Chapter 5

[Ashton's POV]

I have never felt more awkward in my own skin. I mean, I know it's just me feeling this way because I'm the only one crushing on anyone at this table. And too add to my uncomfortableness, Michael made me sit by Luke. I swear, he must get turned on or something when he waches me squirm from my uneasiness and overwhelming nervousness. 

"Y'know, you guys make conversation. I'm running out of things to say," Michael said, getting my attention by kicking me. 

"I'm shocked," I mumbled, earning another kick from him. 

"Do you do anything musical, Ashton?" Luke asked. I nearly choked on my soup when I realized he was actually talking to me. 

I looked over into his sea blue eyes, nearly drooling at how beautiful they were. "I play a few things, but I mostly play the drums."

"And he sings," Michael chimed in, making me blush. 

"Really?" Luke asked, sounding and looking impressed. 

"Well, I try to sing, but I'm not any good at it," I admitted with a shy smile, watching as he nodded simply. 

"Luke, don't listen to his lies," Mikey said, hitting my arm. "He sings like an angel."

"An ailing angel," I grumbled, elbowing him. 

"I'm sure you're not that bad. Maybe we could all get together sometime and have a jam session. That way, I could see for myself," he offered, making my cheeks turn a bright crimson once again. "Do either of you have to work tonight?" 

"No," Mikey and I answered in sync. 

"Do you want to do it tonight then? We can have it at my place," he asked.

"I'm free," Michael answered.

"I'll have to check with my mum..." I trailed, feeling like a little kid for being the only one to have to ask my mother for permission.

"Oh, Ashton, please. You know she'd be onboard with it. It means you're socializing and that's what Mama Irwin wants you to do," Michael said, slightly embarrassing me. "Just text her and tell her you're going out for a while tonight." 

"Okay, Mr. Bossy," I said, firing a quick text to her. 

"Did either of you drive to school?" Luke asked.

"I did. I can drive us there if you want," Michael said.

"Okay, good. I was hoping I wouldn't have to call my brother Jack and ask him to us a ride," Luke laughed. I was curious as to why, but I didn't ask. I would probably find out tonight.

"Wait- do you have a drumset?" I asked.

"Yeah. My parents decided to let me have the whole basement as a music and art room since I have so many instruments," he smiled proudly.

\----

"What did your mum say when you told her you were going on your first date?" Micahel asked me, leaning against my locker. 

"I didn't even know that I was going on my first date tonight. Who is this lucky suitor?" I asked, putting my dreaded calculus book into my bag. 

"Luke, you dipshit," Michael scoffed.

I stopped what I was doing and looked aat him disapprovingly. "It's not a date. It's anything but a date, especially if you're there." 

"I'm going to set you guys up together before the night's over," he said confidently. 

"He's straight, Michael," I said.

"You could change him."

"I doubt it."

"Why must you always look at the negatives, my son?" Micahel asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Who's looking at the negatives of what?" Luke asked, a frown forming on his face as he approached.

"Ashton is being a Negative Nelly about this girl he likes," Michael told him, earning a glare and punch from me. 

"You don't have to worry about me telling anyone, Ash. I wouldn't do that to you," Luke said with a reassuring smile. "We've all had crushes, so I understand how you feel completely. What's got you so down about her?" 

"It's nothing," I gulped, closing my locker, my eyes settling on Calum's posse a few feet away.

"We can talk about it when we get to my house," Luke said, his eyes on the same place mine were. 

The three of us walked out to Michael's shitty car, thankful it was all the way in overflow because the majority of people would be leaving or gone by the time we got there. 

"Please tell me you parked in the school parking lot," Luke said, a bit of a chuckle at the end. 

Michael stopped, causing the rest of us to stop as well. He put his arm around Luke's shoulders, pointing towards the strip mall down the hill and across the street from the school. "See that little black car in front of that Starbucks across the road?"

"Yeah. You didn't park there, did you?" he asked, sounding like he was going to kick Michael's ass if he was actually serious. 

"That's the common white girl's hangout. Why would I be there, associating myself with those annoying voiced, high maintenance bitches? Jesus, Hemmings. I'm disappointed you would think such terrible things about me," Michael said, faking anger, causing Luke to get a guilty look on his face. And then Michael started to laugh out of amusement. "Actually, we're right over there. God, you look like you're about to cry. Did you think I was going to beat you, Mr. Giraffe Legs?" 

"No, but I was about to question your mental sanity. I'm actually still contemplating it," he said, chuckling. 

"Don't do it. You'll have a headache in no time. I'm speaking from experience," I said, causing Luke to laugh even harder, which I didn't complain about. "And Michael, if one of those annoying voiced, high maintenance bitches gave you the time of day, you'd be on her like an Xbox."

"Don't be a dick," Michael retorted. 

"I'm being honest, bud," I laughed. 

\----

Luke's house was nice. It wasn't necessarily big, but it certainly wasn't small either, especially the basement. It was like heaven; there were tons of band posters, instruments...it was so beautiful, it brought a tear to my eye. Michael instantly went to the guitars, looking at them like they were a naked girl.

"You can play one if you want," Luke laughed. Michael instantly picked up the white electric guitar and went over to the bed, strumming it quietly. 

"This is great, Luke. I've never been in love with a room before," I told him, causing a cute smile to come across his face. 

"Thanks. I was decorating it while my parents and brothers were unpacking the rest of the house," he said. 

"Luke, did you bring people over?" a woman called from upstairs.

"Yeah! They're a few friends I met at school!" 

\----


	7. Chapter 6

[Ashton's POV]

"Guys, please excuse my mother. She's annoying and weird and insisted on meeting you because she thinks I'm anti-social and doesn't believe me that you guys are my friends," Luke said with a small smile, hurrying down the stairs and rolled his eyes.

Before Michael or myself could say anything, a short blonde had entered the basement, standing behind Luke. Her face instantly lit up when she saw the two of us.

"Hello, boys! I'm Liz, Luke's wonderful mother," she chirped, Luke covering his face, pretending to be embarrassed.

"I'm the amazing Michael G. Clifford," Michael responded, actually looking up from the guitar. "It's lovely to meet you, Miss Hemmings. You look very nice today."

"Oh, aren't you polite! Thank you, Michael. Luke, this is the crowd I've been waiting for you to hang around," Liz said, very lightly punching Luke's arm. "What about you, sweetie?"

"I'm Ashton, Ashton Irwin," I responded, a smile on my face. "It's nice to meet you, Liz."

"It's great to meet you both. How old are you boys?" Liz wondered, pushing Luke out of the way as she took a seat in the old leather recliner next to the support beam.

"We're in Year Eleven with Luke, actually. Both of us are seventeen," I responded, gesturing to Michael and I.

"Tell me about yourselves. Are either of you into sports? Any hobbies?" Liz asked, earning another eyeroll from Luke.

"Unless you count being an avid FIFA player a sport, no. I do enjoy playing my guitar, listening to music, working at Hot Topic, and eating pizza, though," Michael told her.

"Eating pizza isn't a hobby, Michael..." Luke said, trying to hide a chuckle.

"Oh, yes it is, Luke. If eating pizza was an olympic sport, Michael would take home the gold," I told him, being completely serious.

"So I'm to order a separate pizza for Michael then?" Liz laughed.

"Yes, I recommend you do that," Michael said, sitting up with a dorky smile on his face. "Enough about me. Ashy poo, what about you?"

"Don't rhyme or call me that ever again," I laughed. "I'm an avid drummer, love my job that is also at Hot Topic, and pointless doodling."

"Oh? You're a musical bunch, eh? No wonder Luke likes you," she smiled, making Luke blush, which was adorable.

"Okay, mum, now that you made my friends highly uncomfortable and never want to come back here again, can you like, leave? Get the food or something and not come back down here?" Luke asked her, scratching the back of his neck, him being the only uncomfortable one.

"Darling, they're not uncomfortable! But yes, I'll quit embarrassing you for now. What kind of pizza would you boys like?" Liz asked as she stood up from the chair.

"I like cheese," Michael piped up, being all original.

"Cheese is fine with me," I answered.

Luke nodded and his mum went back up the stairs. When the door shut, Luke let out a sigh of relief and collapsed into the chair that his mum was just sitting in, as if her meeting us was exhausting to him. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry. She's cool," I answered, getting a weird look in return.

"Really? Most people think she's annoying or clingy when they're over. Calum told me that we would hangout at his place because she would constantly check up on us," he told us, a look of hurt forming on his face.

"No, she's nice. It's always nice to have a friend's mum be like a second mum. Calum just doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about," I told him, earning a smile at the last part.

\----

We had been too busy playing video games and eating food that we forgot about the sole purpose of us having went over to Luke's place in the first place. So our "jam session" had begun at eight-ish, which wasn't extremely late, but we also were planning on turning it into an overnight jam session. Before we would play together, Luke was insisting that we show each other our talents, or in other words, he wanted me to sing.

"Ash...can you please sing?" Luke asked.

"No. I don't want to hurt your ears," I told him. After hearing him play and sing Lego House by Ed Sheeran, I immediately felt insecure about my voice.

"Oh, come on. Ashton, you're not that bad. In fact, bad isn't even a word to describe it. You're an amazing singer," Michael pleaded. 

"Please, Ashton? You're probably really good and your voice is the best sound in the world, but if I don't hear you sing, I'll be deprived of the best voice the world has to offer," Luke begged, a pleading look on his face. 

"Ugh, fine. But you're going to go deaf or beg me to stop," I said, getting up to go to the keyboard he had set up in the corner. 

\----

After I finished, I looked up from the keyboard, not expecting the reactions I was receiving. Instead of disgusted, Luke was looking at me with an open mouth and actually looked pleased. Michael had a satisfied look on his face, which he always did when I sang. I couldn't help but blush and get an embarrassed smile on my face. 

"And you say you're terrible?" Luke asked, which made my previous happy feeling quickly go away. God damn my horrible singing. 

"Well, I'm not amazing," I admitted sheepishly. 

"You're a fucking idiot," Michael blurted.

"Thank you. That's a real nice compliment, jackass," I retorted.

"Ashton, you're really good," Luke said, a genuine smile on his face. Cue the butterfly storm in my stomach.

"Oh, thanks," I answered, my awkwardness starting to take over again. "You're really good too."

"Thanks," Luke smiled.

"Hello? What about Michael? Is Michael talented or is he just a washed up piece of trash like The Wanted?" Michael piped up, disrupting me from the slight trance Luke's eyes put me in.

"Yeah, yeah, Michael. You're wonderful," I said, waving him off, which earned me a glare. 

"Guess what little shit isn't getting a ride home tomorrow? Find your own way home, motherfucker!" he snapped, getting a pout on his face.

"I'm just kidding, Mikey. You're great. Please forgive me," I told him, sticking my bottom lip out.

"Fine. But that's just because you're cute," he said, a smile forming on his face. 

"Wait- are you guys...?" Luke questioned awkwardly.

"No! Ew, I'm...no! I like boobs!" Michael blurted out, a little too loudly. "Ashton's the one who's anti-girl!" 

I quit laughing and gave Michael a glare. I wasn't going to tell Luke until he knew me a little better. Now I probably lost a friend and potential boyfriend. "You're gay?" 

"Um, yeah," I answered, averting my eyes anywhere but Luke's face.

"Don't be ashamed of it. It's fine," Luke said, making me look directly at him with surprise, causing Michael to bust out laughing. "Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy? Don't you want me to be cool with it?"

"I'm just surprised you were, I guess," I shrugged. "I don't know...I thought you'd be freaked out that a gay kid is sleeping at your house tonight."

"No, Ash. I'm fine with it. It doesn't bother me," he said, a warm smile on his face. He looked over at Michael. "Would you shut up, tomato?"

"Well, aren't we bitchy?" Michael answered, his laugh calming down. 

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation with Luke and you're interrupting it with your annoying ass laugh," I told him, trying to sound all angry, but just ended up laughing anyway. 

"I have a feeling we're all going to be great friends," Luke said, shaking his head with a wide smile. 

"Better than Calum?" I asked.

"Much better than Calum."

\----


	8. Chapter 7

[Ashton's POV]

I woke up to the sound of an annoying alarm clock. For a second, I forgot where I was but then remembered that Michael and I had spent the night at Luke's. I heard a groan from the floor and then a hand shot up over the foot of the bed. Had I made Luke sleep on the floor because I stole his bed? Wow, I'm a dick.

He got up and propped himself on the bed, looking at me with his tired blue eyes. "Good morning, Ashton."

"I wouldn't say it's a good morning at six o'clock," I chuckled, slightly taken aback by his sexy morning voice.

"I agree," he laughed, looking completely adorable with his messy and flat hair. "Did you sleep good? I mean, you should've slept like a king in that bed."

"Yeah...sorry about making you sleep on the floor," I chuckled nervously.

"It's alright, mate. You fell asleep up there and I didn't have the heart to wake you up and make you move," he smiled, waking the fucking butterflies in my stomach. "I suppose we should get ready for school?"

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," I agreed, hoping he couldn't hear my heart beating like a race horse.

"I have clothes you can borrow," he said as he went over to his closet in the far corner of the room.

As I got off of the bed and started to walk over to him, I nearly stepped on a sleeping Michael as he flopped over onto his other side. I was tempted to kick him, but then I decided against it because I kind of wanted this time with just Luke and I to last a bit longer. I stealthily stepped over him and went over to Luke, seeing that his closet was literally split in half. There was nice shirts, like flannels and jackets, on one side and the other side was pure t-shirts.

"This is what I'm wearing, but the rest is your choice," he said, holding up a plain black shirt.

I sifted through the clothes, seeing that the boy had endless amounts of band shirts, which made me respect and love him so much more. I decided on a red flannel with a white t-shirt, figuring I had to go to work after school today, so I needed to dress good. I turned from the closet seeing Luke sitting in the recliner, like he was waiting.

"Got it?" he asked.

"Yeah. Where do you want me to get ready?" I asked him, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"You can change out here. We're all guys; we know what our bodies look like," he chuckled.

"But I'm...gay. You're not uncomfortable or anything?" I asked, kind of shocked at his previous answer.

"If I turn you on, then I will take that as a compliment," he said jokingly. If only he knew that it wasn't a joke to me. "Stop acting like a girl and put your- my - clothes on."

I blushed and took off my clothes, except for my jeans, and put on the two shirts I picked out. As I was getting dressed, I couldn't help but sneak glances at Luke. His body was pretty lovely from what small looks I took. He looked up at me as I was staring and trying to get my head through the neck hole of the t-shirt.

"Do you need help?" he chuckled, walking over.

"Um...kind of," I said, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

As Luke straightened out the shirt on me, there was a gasp and both of us looked over to Michael. "Jesus! You couldn't have at least told me to go to another room?! I don't want to wake up to you two frickle-frackling! I'm already tainted!"

"What's frickle-frackling?" Luke laughed.

"Were you born yesterday? Everyone and their brother knows what frickle-frackling is," Michael said sassily.

"Well, not all of us are as pathetic and unsocial like you so we wouldn't know that," I spoke up, pulling the shirt down.

"You can walk to school, bitches," Mikey scoffed, acting like Regina George from 'Mean Girls'.

"You can go naked then," Luke chuckled.

"I was going to ask Ash where he got those clothes," he said, ignoring Luke's initial comment.

"The closet is yours. Just return when finished," Luke smiled.

"Cool. Now, go do your hair and stop trying to get in my friend's pants," Michael scoffed.

"Just for that, I'm going to leave my hair down," Luke laughed, going over and turning the light in the bathroom off.

\----

As we walked towards the school from Michael's far away parking lot, I tugged my flannel shirt around so it would fit me more comfortably. Luke's shoulders were more broad and he was more taller than I was, so his shirts were a bit bigger on me. At least I didn't have to wear his jeans. Those would probably be around my ankles by now.

"So did either of you have homework last night?" Luke asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, a little bit. I don't have the class until this afternoon though," I said, thankful that I could do it during lunch.

"I did, but I'll probably do it during my science class," Michael said, laughing.

"Same. Procrastination at it's best, yeah?" Luke joked.

We walked into the building, me already wanting to turn around and leave because I was kind of tired from staying up rather late last night. Thankfully, our locker bay wasn't far from the front doors, so it didn't require us to hike up the stairs at this dreaded hour of the morning. We walked into our grade, seeing everyone in their chosen cliques. Calum and his friends were grouping around his locker as usual, but this time, they were spilling over so a few of them were in the way of mine.

"Do they do this every single day?" Luke suddenly asked me as he followed me to my locker.

"Yeah, basically. Calum's their ring leader, so his locker is the meeting place," I told him, sighing as I approached the two guys standing right in front of where I needed to go. "Let's move our hind ends, shall we?"

The two got out of the way, mumbling some not so nice things. I heard Luke chuckling to himself behind me, which made me smile to myself. His laugh was just so cute. Jesus, I sound like a girl.

"You're a sassy one, aren't you?" Luke chuckled.

"I can be, yeah. If you're in Calum's little posse and are usually a dick to me or my friends, I'm not going to be too peachy keen back," I told him, smirking.

"Remind me not to piss you off," Luke joked. He put his arms on the top of the lockers and rested his head on them. "Do you have to work tonight?"

"Yeah, right after school. Why?" I asked, getting my books out.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out again. My parents and brothers aren't going to be home," he told me.

"Oh, well, stop by. It gets kind of lonely in there. Plus, spending five hours with Mikey in a teeny little room drives me a little insane," I told him.

"Sounds tempting. Maybe I will stop and hang out with you guys for a while," he said with a close-mouthed smile.

\----


	9. Chapter 8

Luke's POV]

It was around five o'clock and I was alone in my house again. I know Ashton said I could go hangout with them, but I had to finish my homework first. Yet, even with my homework being down for over an hour, I still was debating whether or not I should go. I know they wouldn't mind and that they were somewhat my friends now, but I felt rather awkward around them, not as much Michael, but Ashton. He was sweet and one of the nicest people I've ever met, but I always felt nervous and felt like I couldn't make a mistake or anything.

Though, judging by how Michael and Ashton came across, they didn't seem like the type that would be quick to judge anyone. I was just awkward around people and they were the only friends that I had right now. I didn't want to somehow scare them away or come off as clingy or anything of that sort.

My phone began to ring and I hoped that it was one of my family members, but I didn't get my hopes up. I got up from my computer desk and grabbed my phone from my bed, seeing that it was Calum calling. I groaned, not wanting to talk to him and put up with his bull. With a sigh, I answered it.

"Hello, Calum," I said, trying not to sound peeved.

"Hey, Luke. What are you doing right now?" he asked.

"I'm just doing finishing to-watching a Youtube video. Why?" I said, stopping myself before I told him that I was basically a computer geek.

"Boring unless there's girls. Anyway, do you want to hangout? Brock is having a party and I wanted to show you the ropes, introduce you to a few people..." he trailed.

"One, I don't know Brock. And two, I'm supposed to meet my brothers in a little bit," I said, hoping I could get out of what sounded like a close equivalent to Hell.

"You'd love Brock. He reminds me of you actually. And your brothers would understand, I'm sure. I mean, they're not that much older than you. I'm pretty sure they've been to their fair share of high school parties," Calum said, chuckling a bit. I knew he was going to try and pressure me into going, but I just wasn't really wanting to give in. Parties were certainly not my thing. I couldn't even get myself to go visit Ashton and Michael.

"Calum, I would, but I have to finish my homework too," I lied, knowing that my homework is long since done.

"You're, like, extremely smart. I'm sure you can finish it in the next few minutes. I'll be there at...at 5:15, so speed through it," he said, not taking no as an answer.

Before I could protest, the line went dead. I took the phone away from my ear and shut my monitor off, hurrying upstairs so I could quickly get out before Calum came. Quietly, I snuck out of the sliding door that led to the backyard, which I knew Calum couldn't see from his room since there's a huge tree in the way. I jumped the brown fence and started running towards the mall, which wasn't extremely far from my house.

I guess I was going to hangout with Michael and Ashton.

I'd rather suffer through that awkwardness than go to a party with drunk teenagers.

Once I was closer to the mall, I looked up the Hot Topic extension to see if the two boys were still working or if they went on break. It was kind of creepy, but hey, sometimes that's how you gotta roll.

"Hello, this is Pete from Hot Topic in the Sydney Area Mall," a man answered.

"Hello, can you tell me if Ashton Irwin and Michael Clifford are working tonight?" I asked, feeling even creepier than I would've if one of those two would have answered.

"Well, that's classified information unless if I know who is calling," the man answered. "You never know, you could be plotting a massacre."

"I can assure you that I'm not. But, I'm Luke Hemmings. I go to school with them," I said, chuckling to myself.

"Okay, hang on just one minute, mate," Pete said, the line going quiet. I awkwardly stood on the sidewalk, feeling like I was making a spectacle of myself by standing there like an idiot. "Yes, they are working until nine tonight."

"Alright, thank you!" I said, hanging up and continued on my way to the mall.

\----

I got to Hot Topic and casually walked in the store like I was a normal costumer as Ashton was checking out someone and Michael was restocking shelves. As I looked at the "Black Matters" section, I kept an eye on the checkout so I could approach Ashton as soon as the customer left. The girl walked out and I picked up a random shirt and made my way to the counter, where Ashton now had his back turned to me.

"Hey, could you tell me if I could get your discount on my total?" I asked, making my voice a little deeper than normal.

Ashton turned around with a bish-whet look on his face, but when he saw it was me, he broke out into a wide grin. "You're lucky I didn't break out my sass and sarcasm on you."

"Well, I was serious, but if you're going to get all bitchy on me, then forget it," I chuckled, looking at the hazel eyed boy.

"So, you decided to come out of the depths of your dark little cave to come see me?" he smiled, his eyes smiling as well.

"You could put it that way, I guess," I smirked. "You seem cooler than being by myself, playing video games."

"How sweet of you, Lucas," he said, putting a hand on his heart. "You can hang here. We'll just keep working. I can get a stool or something for you, if you want?"

"No, I'm good. If my legs get too tired, I'll just make you carry me or make my ass cozy on the floor," I smiled.

"You are quite a card there, Hemmings," Ashton said with a wink.

"Quit your flirting. You guys are making me nauseous," Michael said, walking around with an empty box.

I felt my face heat and I was pretty sure it was turning red. "I-I'm not gay."

"Than you're quite a charming boy," an older man said, appearing out of nowhere. I looked over at Ashton, who was just as red and embarrassed as I was. "Jesus, Ashton. Could you make it anymore obvious that you have a crush on this boy?"

"Shut up, Pete. I do not. I literally met this guy, like a few days ago," he said.

"And that didn't stop you from saying he was a sex god. You didn't even know his name then," Michael said.

I felt my cheeks flush even more. I figured that they were probably just picking on Ashton because his humor could come off as flirting. But Ashton was gay, so it could be possible they were telling the truth. I wasn't sure what I would say to that because one, I'm straight. I like Ashton, but I wouldn't change my sexuality for him. He's a friend and certainly wouldn't be my type anyway.

"Don't get embarrassed, Ash. He was going to find out sooner or later. You're terrible at keeping those types of secrets, even your own," Michael snickered.

"Oh, Luke, don't be flustered. We all question our sexuality at some point," the man, who I'm guessing was Pete, said.

I wasn't questioning my sexuality. I was straight. Wasn't I?


	10. Chapter 9

[Ashton's POV]

 

After our shift was over, I had literally booked it out of the mall so I wouldn't have to face Luke anymore. I usually don't feel awkward around people, but when it comes to having a crush on them and then they find out, then I get more awkward than Sheldon Cooper. I didn't want him to see that, so I ran away.

 

I have a tendency to think into things, or over think them. I was thinking the worst case scenario, of course, and he probably wasn't even thinking about it at all. He probably just thought that it was Pete and Michael just fucking around with me. But what if he really thought the worst? What if he actually thought I did have a crush on him, which I do, and he was utterly disgusted by it? What if he didn't want to be friends with me anymore because of it? What if he thought I was a freak?

 

I flipped onto my side, trying to get rid of all the what-if's and get some much needed sleep, but that's only so easy. What if, what if, what if. That's all I kept thinking.

 

I knew that I was going to find out in the morning at school if any of the what-if's were true, but I couldn't help but worry.

 

——

 

Michael was honking outside, unusually earlier than usual. I quickly buttoned my skinny jeans and grabbed my backpack, hurrying to get out the door before he decided to crash into my living room.

 

"Tell Michael to calm his tits. Have a good day, sugar!" mum called from the kitchen.

 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. She was so embarrassing sometimes, I swear.

 

As I power walked down to Michael's car, I saw what I thought was an outline of a person in the backseat. Either Michael was now picking up hitchhikers or he just packed his backseat full of his garbage. I opened the passenger door, seeing a very tired looking Michael looking at me.

 

"It's about time, sleeping beauty," he sassed.

 

"Might I remind you that you were the one who showed up half an hour earlier than you usually do without giving me any warning," I pointed out as I shrunk down into his rather compact clunker.

 

"I hope you don't mind that I picked up some loser that was going to walk the streets," Michael said as he pulled away from the curb.

 

I turned around to look in the backseat and saw Luke sitting back there with a tired grin on his face. He was tall, so he looked awkward being stuffed into the back of this short little car.

 

"Morning, Luke," I greeted, trying to forget all the thoughts that had run through my mind last night.

 

"Hey, Ashton," he said sweetly.

 

We all sat in an awkward silence as Mikey drove to the school. It wasn't exactly silent, I guess; his phone was plugged in and All Time Low was playing quietly in the background, taking away from what I felt was an awkward tension. I was silently drumming my fingers on my thigh to the beat of Outlines, moving my mouth just slightly as I lip synced the words.

 

"So, how'd you all sleep?" Michael suddenly asked, obviously feeling uncomfortable in the quietness. He was never one to keep quiet for long, unless he was sleeping or eating pizza.

 

"Good, I suppose. I could go for another ten hours," I answered, still drumming the beat.

 

"Try twenty-four," Michael snorted, turning onto the road that led to the school. "What about you, Lucas?"

 

"I tossed and turned for a few hours, but I fell asleep after I had a midnight serving of Nutella," Luke answered. That explained his exhausted look.

 

"We should have stopped at Starbucks or something," I blurted out, immediately craving a coffee.

 

"We still could, but we'd have to skip," Michael said. "I'm good with it, but you guys are all goody good and can't be rebels."

 

"I'm insulted, Clifford," I said, faking my hurt. "Did you not see my punk rock look when I went in for my Hot Topic interview?"

 

"Your mum dressed you, idiot. She's more punk rock than you and she's a middle-aged woman," he said. I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment at the secret of my mother dressing me for the interview. Now Luke knew that I didn't look badass all on my own. Fucking Clifford.

 

"You know what? You want me to be a damn rebel, let's skip and go to Starbucks," I said, getting a small rush of adrenaline. I turned to face Luke. "Are you game or do you want us to drop you off?"

 

"Um, I guess. I just have study hall today," Luke shrugged, looking actually excited to be a daredevil.

 

"Well, I guess we're bypassing this shit hole then," Michael said, speeding past the school.

 

I turned up the volume on the radio, feeling like a true badass for skipping. But as I continued to think about it, the reason we were skipping was less badass than actually skipping. We, teenage boys that were supposed to have that hardcore punk rock vibe radiating off of us, were skipping first period to get coffee. At Starbucks. Instead of being hardcore punk rock badasses, we were common white girls, but in male form.

 

"You do realize we're feeling like badasses for skipping first period just so we can get Starbucks? Also known as the common white girl feeding hole," I pointed out to the two boys.

 

"We're not just getting coffee. Oh no, we'll make this punk rock and get motherfucking scones," Michael said with pure sincerity, making Luke and I stifle a laugh.

 

"God, Michael. I feel so badass now because I'm going to get a motherfucking scone with my coffee," Luke chuckled.

 

Michael looked back at Luke in the rear view mirror with a straight face. "That's how you're supposed to feel, grasshopper. Follow me and you'll go far."

 

"Oh? Are we going to Starbucks in Newcastle to get farther? Live dangerously and get some foreign scones?" I joked.

 

Michael just looked over at me, glaring, and stuck up his middle finger. "Nobody asked you."

 

——

 

We were going to just sit in the Sydney Starbucks so we would miss all of first period. The three of us stuck out, mainly Michael since his bright colored hair, but we were the only "punk rock" looking teenage boys that went in and out of the cafe. The rest were either uni age common white girls or middle aged people going to work.

 

It was awkwardly quiet in there and the three of us weren't the best at talking with our inside voices. Not to mention Michael's constant potty mouth. And mine too, but that's besides the point.

 

Luke set his scone down after taking a bite and jumped down from the high table chair. "I'm going to the toilets. Don't leave without me. I don't know my way around very well yet."

 

He walked away and then Michael swung his head dramatically so he was looking at me.

 

"What?" I asked.

 

"Why's he so quiet?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

 

"How should I know? You've been here the whole time," I told him.

 

"Well, I thought that you could read minds or something, God. You do it to me all the damn time," Michael scoffed.

 

"That's because I know you better than you do," I laughed.

 

"Do you think that he took our joking seriously last night?" Michael asked curiously.

 

I played dumb. I couldn't let Michael know that it was bothering me. "You're going to have to be more specific. If you haven't noticed, we joke with each other all the time."

 

Mikey rolled his eyes. "About you having a crush on him and when Pete said that he was questioning his sexuality or whatever. Do you think he got offended by it?"

 

"No. When you forced me to come out to him, he wasn't disgusted or anything by it, so I don't see where he would be now. It's not like we were accusing him of being gay. If anything, he could be taking it seriously," I told him, trying to act nonchalant and careless about the whole thing when I really wasn't.

 

"Wouldn't you like if he was?" Mikey joked, taking a sip of his frappucino.

 

"Shut up, dickhead," I responded, flicking his arm.

 

Fuck yes I would like that.

 

——


	11. Chapter 10

[Luke's POV]

I wanted to stay in the toilets all day. I just couldn't put up with my brain or confusion any longer. Being around Ashton just made my head spin. I should have never agreed to skipping with them. I knew that it would fuck with me.

The reason I didn't get any sleep last night was because I was thinking of him. I was thinking about what Pete had said about questioning my sexuality. I didn't think I was. I mean, I like Ashton. He's a cool guy. I just didn't think I was gay for him though. But after thinking about it for so long and so hard, it became obvious to me that I did have some type of romantic feelings for him.

This morning when Michael picked him up, I got butterflies in my stomach when he said hi to me. How girly is that? I always thought of myself as straight, but now that I think about it, I never got butterflies when a really pretty girl would say hi or even look my way. I always thought of it as a friendly gesture. I never thought 'oh my god, she talked to me' or anything like that. And then Ashton came along and now I'm confused as hell!

I knew Ashton was gay and I knew that he would be the one to talk to if I had questions, which I do, but I didn't want to considering that it was based on bantering and it was technically his fault I'm even questioning. I couldn't just randomly ask him how he knew he was gay. He wouldn't judge, but he would claim that I was taking Pete's joke way too seriously.

I didn't even know if Ashton had the same feelings for me if I were to be gay. Yeah, Michael and Pete said that he did, but again, that's just playful bantering. Nothing serious. I ran my hands through my hair and then went out of the stall to the sink, running some cold water into my hands and then splashing my face with it. I just needed to forget about it. I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I'm straight. I like girls. Not a boy named Ashton Irwin, who I barely even know anything about.

With that repeating in my mind, I walked out of the toilets and back into the cafe. Michael and Ashton were still sitting at the table, laughing about something. I kept telling myself not to think of Ashton as anything more than a friend. I couldn't and I wouldn't. Because I'm as straight as an arrow.

"Well, you took a while. Did the coffee not agree with you?" Michael joked.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, acting like my slight breakdown didn't just happen. "No, I fell asleep instead."

"I could see it. And then some old geezer comes in and bitches you out. Yeah, you'd be that guy," Michael laughed.

"More like you would be that guy, Clifford. Except you wouldn't leave. You'd go right back to sleep," Ashton chimed in, giggling. Dammit.

"Damn straight," Michael agreed.

"We should probably start heading back to the school so we're not late for second period," I said, just wanting to go back to my normal routine so my brain would calm the fuck down.

"Dude, we have, like, an hour. Why do you want to go to school so bad? You're not missing anything important," Michael laughed.

Fuck. There goes my escape route.

"I forgot. Sorry. The classes at my old school were shorter and we didn't have a block schedule," I laughed half-heartedly.

"It's all good, man," Michael said. "So, Ash and I were talking and we thought it would be a cool idea to hangout on Friday night again at my place or something. Maybe we could hit up James' party."

I thought about it, not really wanting to hangout with them for specific reasons but I didn't want them to think that I didn't want to hang out with them. They're literally the only real friends I have here. I really didn't want to go back to Calum and his group of douche bags.

"I'm not really a party type," I said, hoping that they would get the hint.

"You aren't the party type? That's like telling me that Caitlyn Jenner isn't a real person! You totally look like the party type!" Michael said.

"Are you making fun of my girl?" Ashton asked, hitting Michael's bicep.

"No, I love Caitlyn. That's why...ugh, never mind," Michael told him, flustered. "Anyway, we don't have to go. It isn't like a mandatory thing. We could just hang out and be lazy."

I was out of excuses. I could see Ashton looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I willed myself not to look at him and fawn over his adorable- oh my God, what am I thinking!?

"I'd have to check with my mum and see if I'm doing anything," I lied. I knew she would be okay with it because I finally had friends here, but I just wanted to think about it and see if I was still confused or not by then.

"Hopefully Pete doesn't decide that we need to work," Ashton piped up.

"Even if we do, Luke could come again. I think Pete liked him," Michael suggested. "But he won't ask if Rachelle and Cory decide to actually work this week."

They got into a conversation about their coworkers who are apparently lazy and always call in sick and then go to parties or whatever instead. I just took my seat and blocked them out, trying to tell my brain to shut up. I couldn't be attracted to Ashton. Why am I one that this had to happen to? I don't even know if my family accepts gay people. What if they didn't? My family is obsessed with me. Couldn't it happen to someone else I'm related to? Somebody that nobody ever sees and it wouldn't be a big deal if we're disowned? WHY ME!?!

"Hey, Luke, you okay?" Ashton said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

I blinked my eyes quickly and looked at him, his hazel eyes a beautiful shade of green. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"You zoned out there," Ashton chuckled.

"Told you I'm tired," I laughed.

"I'm going to go hit on that hot lady over there and you kids do whatever you want," Michael said, his eyes fixed on a black and white dyed haired girl that was standing and waiting for whatever she ordered.

Ashton rolled his eyes as he got up and left us alone, which I didn't really want. I knew that I couldn't get away with just ignoring him because Ashton doesn't seem to enjoy silence for very long.

"So..." Ashton started, just like I had expected.

"So..." I repeated, not entirely sure of what he wanted me to say.

"You didn't take the sexuality joke serious or get offended by it last night, did you?" he asked.

I nearly choked on my drink when he said that. It was like he read my mind. "N-no. Was I supposed to?"

"Well, no," he chuckled. "Unless you really are."

"No, I'm not," I lied, faking a laugh. "I'm pretty sure I'm interested in girls."

"Okay, good. I was worried if we offended you. I didn't want to make you go all haywire and question anything," Ashton said, relief apparent in his voice.

Little did he know that he actually was making me question what I thought I had figured out.

——


	12. Chapter 11

[Ashton's POV]

All day Luke had been acting really weird towards me. It's like he was trying to avoid me or when we would make conversation he was really distant. But he was completely fine around Michael for some odd reason.

"Dude, he's not mad at you. He has no reason to be unless you said something to him when I was flirting with that hot chick," Michael said.

"I just held a civil conversation with him. I have no idea why he's acting so weird," I told him, readjusting myself so I was lying on a star on Michael's bed.

My terrible habit of overthinking things was taking over again and it was starting to get old. I knew deep down that Luke wasn't mad at me, but I kept talking myself into scenarios of why he was avoiding me. I wanted to beat my head against a wall so I would quit.

"If it makes you feel any better, he's been acting a bit distant around me too. My guess is that he's just tired. You heard him; he didn't sleep well last night," Michael tried explaining to me.

"But when I'm tired, I at least try to still have a conversation and not avoid you or anyone," I pointed out.

"Exhaustion affects everyone differently, dingus," he said, pushing my leg.

"Boys, do you want anything to eat?" Michael's mum asked as she opened Michael's door.

"Do we have those chicken wing thingys? Because I could use a nice plate of those," Michael told her.

She jutted her hip. "Do you not remember that Ashton is right next to you? Since my darling son isn't going to share, do you want anything, Ash?"

"No, I'm okay, thank you," I told her.

"What he would like is to know why his beloved crush that isn't even gay is mad at him," Michael blurted.

I just rolled my eyes. I knew he was going to bring it up sooner or later. "You don't have to. He's just trying to be a pain in my ass."

"I believe that," she laughed. "But I can try to help figure it out if you want. You know I'm not an expert with men, but I'll try."

"Of course you are, mum. You raised me into a sexy and somewhat intelligent man," Michael told her.

"If that's what you want to believe," she joked, leaning against the door frame. "So, tell me what's happening."

I told her about it, hoping that she could see what I was apparently missing. She's a woman; they can understand things men can't, which is why I'm gay for one. I could never understand why a woman would be mad at me if I don't even know what I did.

"Well, I don't think he's mad at you. But I do think something's up, but it isn't really your fault," she told me after a minute of thinking about it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You said he was straight, right?"she asked.

"Yeah. So?" Michael said.

"He wasn't uncomfortable with you being gay?" she continued.

"No. He was perfectly fine with it," I told her.

She stayed quiet for a minute. "And he started acting a little weird after the events of last night. He acts perfectly fine around Michael, but not you. Did you discuss the joke with him?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"What was his response?"

"No."

"I mean body language. This is why you're boys," she said, rolling her eyes.

"He was kind of nervous, I guess? He stuttered a little. It was the most he's talked to me all day," I told her. She got a small smirk on her face. "What?"

"I don't know if I'm right or not, but I think you may have made him start to question his sexuality more than he was aware of originally. I mean, all signs are pointing to that, but I don't know for sure, so don't go asking him."

\----

I was sitting on the couch, trying to watch the telly, but I couldn't focus on it, at least not what the possibility of what Luke's problem was. I wanted to know if it was legit or not, if that's really what has been bothering him. Not just because he would be the first ever hot guy to have a crush on me, but because I wanted to help him through it. And I wouldn't be able to believe that I, Ashton Irwin, had made someone who had thought they were straight turn gay. And it was for me.

"Ash, why are you so quiet? It isn't like you to be all mysterious," mum asked, sitting down in the recliner across from me.

"I'm just tired," I lied, not really wanting to discuss this whole shebang with her. She would just make it a bigger deal than what it originally was.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me if something is bothering you," she said, looking concerned.

"Yeah, mum," I answered.

I needed to talk to Luke. I knew that's what had to happen to put my mind at ease. I pulled out my phone, but mentally cursed when I realized I didn't have his number yet. I knew Michael did, but I didn't want his harassment about it. I quickly went to my Facebook app that I barely ever use and typed in Luke's name, finding him quickly. I clicked the message button and it said that he had messenger, so I knew that he would get it if he were by his phone.

Ashton Irwin: Are you busy right now?

I put my phone down and tried to concentrate on the telly instead of waiting around for him to answer me. That was also another bad habit of mine. If I wasn't doing anything else, I would constantly check my phone and wait for the person I was texting to text back. It was a terrible habit, especially when I like to overthink things.

My phone had buzzed in my lap and I felt my heart pick up as I hoped that it was Luke's response. Sure enough, it was.

**Luke Hemmings:** No. I'm in my room. Why?

**Ashton Irwin:** would you mind if I came over for a little bit? I have to talk to you about something.

**Luke Hemmings:** if you want I guess. Do you remember how to get here?

**Ashton Irwin:** yep! See you in a little bit.

\----


	13. Chapter 12

[Ashton's POV]

"Where do you think you're going at this hour of the night? It's nine-thirty!" mum asked me as I got up from the couch.

"I have to go to Luke's. He needs help with chemistry homework," I lied.

"But you don't even understand your chemistry homework. And who's this Luke character?" she continued questioning.

"He's my friend. He just moved here," I told her, getting irritated with her sudden want to be a detective. "And I understand this unit."

"Just be home before midnight. I don't need my son to be kidnapped by some no good drug lord and sold off to a sex ring," she commanded.

"I'm not going to get kidnapped, mum. It shouldn't even take that long," I told her, slipping on my Vans and went out the door.

For the most part, I knew how to get to Luke's house. It was just the fact that I was going to have to walk there that was really bumming me out. I was never a huge fan of the dark, especially being alone and outside in it. It was always way too quiet and I was always on high alert because everything seemed super sketchy. It was like something was hiding behind every tree or every structure and would jump out at me and give me a heart attack at any moment so they could kill me or kidnap me.

I liked to scare myself a lot as well.

I walked along the quiet sidewalk, trying to focus on what I was going to say to Luke instead of the scary darkness. Obviously, I couldn't just come out and ask him if he was gay. I wasn't like that and I wouldn't expect him to answer me in the first place. I wanted to ease it out of him, get him to talk to me so he knows that he can trust me enough to that he can tell me anything.

Finally, I looked up to see if I was even going in the right direction and I saw what looked to be Luke's house straight ahead with the porch lights on. I kept my eyes on the house and saw that the basement lights - or Luke's room - were all on. I figured that nobody in the house was asleep yet, thankfully. I didn't want to be sneaking into their house and lose Liz's trust when I had only met her once. I also didn't want to get Luke in trouble.

I walked up to his door and hesitated before knocking. After a few long minutes, I heard shuffling on the other side before the heavy door opened and I was greeted with Liz.

"Oh! Hi. Ashton, right?" she greeted, a tired smile on her face. I nodded quickly. "Not to be rude, but what are you doing here at this hour? Aren't your parents wondering where you're at?"

"Yeah, I told my mum. But I'm actually here to see Luke. He knew that I was coming," I told her. "Don't worry, I won't be here for long. He had a question about our chemistry homework and I told him that I could help him quick."

"Oh, okay. That isn't like Luke to not understand something. Classes must be more difficult than at his last school," Liz said, almost catching my lie.

"Yeah, they are. I was surprised when he asked me because he's next to genius and it would usually be me asking people for help," I laughed nervously.

"Well, alright. Come in," she said, inviting me into the house. I stood awkwardly in the entryway as she went over to the basement door. "Luke! Ashton is here to see you!"

I heard Luke say something back, but I couldn't make out what it was. Liz turned around with a smile and then went back into the living room as Luke appeared in the basement doorway. He was in a pair of sweatpants and was tugging down the old t-shirt that he was wearing, as if he was just putting it on. All I can say is thank God he wasn't shirtless. I couldn't have focused on anything but his body.

"Hey," he greeted, a nervous smile on his face. "Do you want to go downstairs?"

I nodded and followed Luke down to his room. Luke closed the open laptop that was on his bed and set it on his empty desk. I stood awkwardly, not sure of where to go.

"You can sit wherever," he told me quietly as he took a seat on his bed.

I walked over to the chair, lowering myself down onto it. Neither of us said anything at first and Luke texted someone. I didn't know how to start the conversation. It's not like he knew the exact reason that I was here, so he couldn't start it. All he could do was sit and wait for me to start explaining.

"So...what brings you here?" he asked finally. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Well, no...I just needed to talk to you about something," I started awkwardly.

"Okay," he prompted, getting himself more comfortable.

"Are you...are you okay?" I asked.

"Um, yeah. Why?" he wondered.

"Because all day, you've been avoiding me and just acting really distant. You're okay around Michael and everyone else other than me. I just wanted to know if there was something I did to piss you off or anything," I told him.

He stayed quiet for minute. I searched his eyes for anything, but they were expressionless. "I'm fine, Ashton. I just have been tired all day. You didn't say or do anything."

"You know you can talk to me, right, Luke?" I told him after a few minutes. He just looked at me. I could tell that there was something on his mind. "I won't judge you about it. I'll try and understand it."

"It's nothing, Ashton. Don't worry about me," he said.

"So there is something?" I asked, mentally congratulating myself because I got him to start opening up to me in a way.

"Yeah, but it's pretty pointless. Just forget about it. I won't lose sleep over it," he told me. I didn't want to pressure him into telling me, but I could tell by the tone of his voice that it was really bothering him. I knew that he wanted to talk about it. "You should probably be getting home before your mum starts worrying about you."

I got up from the chair and started towards the stairs. I turned around and looked at the blonde boy on the bed. "I'm here to help you if you need it."

\----


	14. Chapter 13

[Luke's POV]

I came so close to telling Ashton. I wanted help, I didn't know what to do. But I just couldn't. I don't know why, but u felt like he was going to judge me even though he was gay as well. I just couldn't bring myself to ask him how to be absolutely sure or whatever.

"Luke, baby, are you okay?" mum asked as she slowly came to down the stairs. I sat up on my elbows and looked at the blonde woman. "Ashton left looking kind of upset. Are you guys fighting?"

"No, mum. Nothing's wrong," I answered her, falling back into my bed.

"Bullshit, Luke. I know that there is something going on with you and I am determined to find out what," she said a bit more harshly. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

Once again, I almost said it. I almost outed myself to my mum. But I didn't because I choked and thought that she was going to hate me. I was going to turn into the Devil's work just because I may or may not be gay.

"Luke...?" mum asked me. "Please tell me."

"I...I need to sleep," I lied and flipped onto my side.

Mum turned the light off, making my room dark. But she didn't go upstairs. "I'm not going to pressure you into talking to me, but I want you to know that I am here for you no matter what."

I was about to say something, but then she hurried back upstairs and closed the basement door before I could talk. I needed to learn to have balls and tell her. I know she wouldn't hate me. The woman is the most accepting human being I know and she would try to accept this as well. 

I know I needed to talk to someone. I needed to tell somebody so I wouldn't drive myself insane because I had no idea what to do or think. I've never questioned my sexuality before. I've never considered myself anything but straight. 

"God dammit, I need to stop," I grumbled to myself. 

I needed to do it. I had to tell Ashton. Out of him, Michael, and Calum, Ashton was going to be the one who would understand what I was going through the most. I grabbed my phone and went to Facebook, knowing that I was going to be doing the right thing by doing this.

Luke Hemmings: Ashton, I have to talk to you in the morning. Can you come over before school and have Michael pick us both up?

Ashton Irwin: Yeah, no problem. Is everything okay?

Luke Hemmings: I don't know...I think so?

I turned my phone off after that, not wanting to answer anymore questions tonight. I had to mentally prepare myself for telling him tomorrow. I couldn't do it now. All I needed was a nice and long night's sleep to hopefully forget about it until I woke up again, but the likelihood of me even sleeping tonight wasn't good. 

\----

I was running around my room, hurrying to get ready before Ashton came knocking on my door so I could talk to him. I was scared of what was going to happen, what Ashton was going to say. Thankfully, mum got called into work early so she wouldn't be wondering why Ashton was here and why I was running around like a mad man. That's the last thing I needed. I didn't want to out myself to her yet. I had to talk to Ashton to make sure that I was for sure thinking I was actually gay. 

There was a knock on the door and I mentally swore. I ran up the stairs, wanting to go back downstairs and hide until I had to go to school, but I knew that it wouldn't do any good. Ashton was willing to be there for me and I couldn't turn that down. 

I opened it and saw Ashton standing there with his backpack over his shoulder and smiling tiredly. "Hey, Luke."

"H-Hey," I stammered, trying not to be too in awe at how hot Ashton looked when his hair was just carelessly thrown around his head. Jesus, I need to quit.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, a puzzling look crossing his face. "You didn't respond to my message last night and I've been worrying." 

"Um, I need to talk to you about something. I don't know what to do," I told him, sort of hesitant. 

"Okay, I'm here to listen," Ashton said with a small smile. 

I let him into the house and went down to my room, trying not to make it obvious that I was nervous and shaking. I was honestly so scared of what Ashton was going to say, even though he was gay as well. I didn't know what he was going to think or what he was going to say. 

"Luke?" Ashton asked, regaining my attention.

"Sorry, I was just thinking..." I trailed. 

"Okay, so what's on your mind? I can't guarantee I'll know the answer, but I can try as best as I can," Ashton told me. 

"I...I think...I think I'm gay..." I whispered. 

"What?" Ashton asked. 

I tried to read his face, see if he actually heard me and couldn't believe what he was hearing or if he seriously didn't hear me say it, but I couldn't tell. I really didn't want to repeat it again, but I knew that I had to if I wanted to get answers and feel this relief that people feel when they actually do tell someone.

"I didn't hear you, Luke," Ashton clarified. 

"I...I said that I think I'm gay..." I said again, a little louder. 

I looked at him again and then back down at the floor. He didn't look disbelieved or disappointed like I had thought he would. He actually looked like it was something people told him everyday. I wanted to know if he was mad or not. 

"I don't know what to do, Ashton! At least ans-" I started, but Ashton cut me off.

"First, calm the hell down," Ashton said. "I know you don't know what to do. I didn't either. Are you for sure you're gay?" 

"I don't know. I think so, but I don't know how to tell," I admitted.

"Do you want dick?" he asked bluntly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, the question catching me off guard.

"Would you rather have sex with someone who has a dick or someone who has a vagina?" he asked, making the question more clear.

"I don't know! I've never had sex before!" I squealed.

"Do you think Taylor Swift is hot? Or does she turn you on in any way, shape, or form?" Ashton asked.

"She's pretty, there's no denying that," I told him. Everyone that Luke has ever spoken to thought Taylor Swift was pretty, gay or not. 

"Damn you," Ashton mumbled.

"What...?" I asked, feeling my heart drop. What I didn't want to happen was happening. I didn't want Ashton to be mad at me for being gay, but he was. But why? He's not mad at himself that I know of. 

Before I could ask him again, Ashton was pressing his lips to mine. I didn't know what to think of what was happening other than the fact that Ashton Irwin was kissing me. It felt different than a girl's would. His lips were more firm and he was slightly more aggressive than a girl would be. But all in all, I enjoyed it. It was nice and it felt good. 

Ashton pulled away and looked at Luke with wild eyes. "Are you gay now?" 

\----


	15. Chapter 14

[Ashton's POV]

I couldn't believe what I had done.

I had just kissed Luke. Not saying that I'm really regretting it because that's something I've been wanting to do since the moment I had first seen him. I couldn't tell whether he enjoyed it or not. He looked more surprised and taken off guard than anything. If he wasn't confused before, he was sure as hell confused now.

"W-why did you do that?" Luke asked quietly, his blue eyes wild.

"Fuck...I don't know! Why did you let me?!" I asked.

"I didn't really have a damn choice, did I?" Luke snapped back.

We sat there in an awkward silence, both of us fidgeting around because neither of us knew what to do or say. I have never prayed so hard for it to be time for school. I didn't really want to face Luke after this. I've dreamed of kissing Luke but I thought it would be in a romantic setting and certainly not when the kid is trying to figure out if he was gay or not.

God, I am an idiot.

What if he turns out to be straight and just pondered the thought? I would have embarrassed myself so bad. If that's the case, I'm packing my bags and catching the first flight to the Yukon in Canada. I can't possibly make an ass out of myself there.

There was a sudden car horn beeped out front and I ran up those stairs faster than a child could sing the ABCs. I got into the front seat of Michael's car and the boy looked at me and started laughing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing," I answered simply, trying to avoid eye contact with him as best as I could.

"Where the hell is Luke?" he asked.

"I don't fucking know. Stop asking me so many damn questions," I squirmed.

"I only asked you two...are you okay? Did something happen in there?" he asked.

"That's four, liar! And no, nothing happened. Zip, zero, nada. Absolutely nothing," I rambled. I was brilliant at hiding things.

"Oh, really? Alright, I'll try to believe you, even though I do know that you're lying to me," he said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke coming towards the car. The backdoor opened and he climbed in. I couldn't look at him and I wasn't going to. I might have been acting dramatic, but I was one who was humiliated easily. I've never kissed anyone! I've never had the balls to go up to someone that I had a crush on and kissed them like that! It was just something I never had thought I would do because I wasn't really an initiator.

Michael and Luke were the only ones who talked for the short car ride to the school and it wasn't that much talking. Luke didn't act like anything had happened and was acting like his normal self. The kid deserves a damn Oscar because I would've never guessed one of his only friends had just kissed him to help him figure out if he was gay.

Or maybe he just wasn't letting it bother him.

I was still wanting to get away from him so I wouldn't have to suffer the overwhelming humiliation that I was going through right now. Hopefully, he wouldn't think it was a good idea to tell Michael because telling Michael would be the worst thing he could do. I would never live it down and at that point, I would just bury myself alive. Fuck going to the Yukon.

Thankfully, I had work for the next few days so I wouldn't be able to go to Luke's if he decided to ask. I could use my beautiful and poor paying job as an excuse. But the part that scared me was that I only worked with Michael for part of a shift for the most part, so Michael could still go over to Luke's and Luke could still spill the beans about what happened this morning.

I went to my locker and almost started bashing my head in because I was seriously disgusted at how I was acting like a teenage girl with this. I rested my forehead against the top of the lockers and lightly banged my head against it.

"Watch it, loser. Lose anymore brain cells and you'll be even more retarded than you already are."

I looked up to see Calum snickering with his group of douche bags. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why don't you just fuck yourself, Hood?"

"I'm surprised you didn't offer to do it for me, Ass-ton," he shot back.

"I would've if your dick wasn't microscopic," I retorted, smirking at the shocked face that Calum made. "What? Does the truth hurt?"

With that, I slammed my locker shut and rushed off to my first class. For once, something had went right today and I actually got a little self-pride back because I had insulted that stupid douche bag. One of my life goals were complete.

\----

"Can I ask you what the hell is going on with you?" Michael asked me for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I've texted you so many times and you've ignored every one of them. It hurts, Irwin."

"I've had my phone off," I lied.

"So, you're saying that there's a ghost inside your phone that is reading my texts?" Michael pointed out. I mentally smacked myself for forgetting that my phone sends read receipts.

"That must be it," I answered.

"Come on, Ash. You know you can talk to me, right?" Michael told me as we walked into the cafeteria.

"Yeah, of course I do," I told him. I wanted to tell him but I didn't want the harassment that would come with it.

"Then why won't you? I just want to know what's on your mind and why you're acting so weird. I'm not going to judge you," he told me.

Yes, yes, you would, I thought to myself. "I'm not acting weird. Nothing's wrong."

"Bitch, please," Michael said, his voice going up an octave.

"I'm serious, Michael. It's none of your business anyway. Just lay the hell off of me," I snapped at him, sick of his constant questioning.

"Well, I'm sorry for trying to be there for you. I thought that's what best friends were for."

\----


	16. Chapter 15

[Luke's POV]

Ashton had made himself scarce throughout the day. He probably thought that I was mad at him about the kiss when really, I wasn't. He just caught me off guard. I really enjoyed it actually. Why wouldn't I enjoy kissing the boy who made me question my sexuality?

But he didn't know that. He thinks that I think of him only as a friend and I think he thinks the same of me. He only kissed me to help me figure out my problem, nothing more. There was no way that Ashton thought of me in a romantic way. He just befriended the new kid because he thought I was cool. Just because he's gay doesn't mean I have a chance with him. Well, I have more of a chance than if he was straight, but still.

It was the end of the day and I closed my locker, going out into the mostly empty hallway. I was planning to walk home instead of hitching a ride with Mikey. I needed to clear my head anyway. Speaking of the devil, I saw Michael walking towards me and he looked downright pissed. I've never seen Michael angry nor imagined it. He was actually rather scary when angry.

"You okay?" I asked, stopping him.

"Yeah, fucking great. Are you riding with me?" Michael asked, grabbing my arm and leading me back to his locker.

"Um, do you want me to? I can walk or just call my mum," I said hesitantly.

"Do you want to turn up the chance to have shotgun?" he asked.

Was Ashton not riding with us?

"No," I answered simply, fearing that I would lose a limb if I said no.

"Alright, then you're riding with me," he said, slamming his locker shut.

The two of us walked out of the school together in an awkward but comfortable silence. It was a little weird not having Ashton with us. Usually, we would be taking up the entire sidewalk, but we weren't today. I glanced over at Michael, not sure of what to say because of the mood he was in. He had a pissed off expression and looked like he was on a mission. Honestly, he scared me a little. I should have just asked Calum to give me a ride or something.

We got to his car and I hesitantly got into the passenger side, feeling a little awkward that I was in Ashton's usual seat. The engine purred to life and then Michael cranked up the radio so loud that it hurt my ears a little at first. I could tell that whatever it was pissed him off royally. For the short time I've known him, he's never had the radio this loud when he had passengers because he wanted to converse and not listen to the music. It was just background noise. Now it was like the band was in the backseat.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, fearfully turning down the volume on the radio.

"I told you that I'm fine," Michael answered sharply.

"Where's Ashton?" I asked innocently, changing the subject in hopes to get his mind off of whatever it was that was bothering him.

"Who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares," he spat.

Or maybe not.

"Did something happen with you guys?" I wondered, hoping that he wouldn't bite my head off for asking.

"I guess. Do you think he's been acting weird?" Michael asked.

"I don't know. After we got to school, he went M.I.A," I told him, not wanting to tell him what had happened this morning. I knew that's probably why he was acting a little weird, but why would he get mad at Michael?

"He's been acting weird all day and he wouldn't answer my texts and he would barely talk to me. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he just snapped at me and got all pissed off at me," Michael explained. "Did I do something to him?"

"I don't think so. Have you tried texting or calling him since?" I asked.

"No. I didn't think it was worth it since he would probably just ignore me anyway. All I was trying to do was be a good friend and listen to him and help him if he needed it, but he refused and is pissed off at me for it," Michael said, irritated. "I'm tempted to just call in sick to work. It's not even a full shift anyway."

"Why? Is Pete going to give you the silent treatment too?" I asked, trying to make the kid laugh, but it didn't work.

"No, but I have to work with Ashton tonight and I don't want to work when I'm angry or be angry at work. I love my job and don't want that fucker making it hell," Michael admitted.

I just nodded, not entirely sure what to say. He was turning onto my road and an idea came to me. I really didn't want to be alone with my mind tonight and if Michael was going to call into work, then I wouldn't have to be. I knew that he wouldn't do anything other than play video games or watch Netflix anyway.

"If you're going to call in, do you want to hangout with me tonight? I have nothing to do," I offered.

"Would your parentals be okay with it?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, they wouldn't care. I have friends here, so they're probably going to be absolutely okay with it," I told him.

"Yeah, I don't see where it would be a problem. I need to stop at my place and change though. I'm not going to stay in my work clothes all night if I don't have to," he said, driving past my house.

\----

I was in the kitchen, making a bag of popcorn while Michael was down in my room, getting everything set up to build a fort and the telly ready so we could watch a movie. As I stood in front of the microwave and watched the bag bloat, there was one thing on my mind. I wanted to talk to Michael about my situation. I know he wasn't gay or anything, but I wanted to tell him because I felt that he deserved to know since he was one of my best friends. It was only fair because I had already told Ashton.

"Lu-"

"AH!" I yelled, nearly having a heart attack as I jumped around to face mum.

"Jesus, Luke! Are you okay?" she asked, her hand on her heart as she laughed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"It's fine. I was just concentrated," I told her, chuckling a little bit.

"What are you two boys up to?" she asked.

"I'm making popcorn and Michael's setting up a fort downstairs before we watch a movie," I told her.

"Don't make too big of mess," she warned. "Is it just you and Michael?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Where's Ashton?" she wondered.

"He had to, um, work," I answered, swallowing the lump in my throat. She couldn't know what had happened in the room beneath her this morning.

"Oh, that's too bad. He seems like a nice kid," she said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired," I answered, hoping that she would believe me.

"Okay, good. Can you take the trash out when you're finished? The garbage man comes around tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah, no problem," I nodded.

"Alright. Be in bed by midnight or earlier. You have school in the morning," she said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I responded, rolling my eyes. "We'll be downstairs if you need us."

She walked back into the room and the microwave beeped. I opened it, grabbing out the hot bag of popcorn, ripping it open and dumping the buttery snack into the large glass bowl on the counter. I scrunched my nose up as I placed the brown bag into the full trash can. I absolutely hated the smell of fresh popcorn. It smelled like feet to me.

I pushed the trash down so I could tie the bag shut and lift it out of the can without it throwing up garbage at me. I slung it over my back and went outside into the warmth. As I made my way over to the garbage bins, I heard voices and laughter coming from Calum's. I looked over, seeing that he was outside, playing soccer with what must be his sister Mali. His back was to me and I prayed it would stay that way until I went back inside. I opened the trash can and tried to quietly put the heavy garbage bag in, but instead it had to have bottles in it and the glass made a loud crash when it hit the bottom. Fuck.

"Hey, Luke!" Calum called after I mentally slapped myself.

"Hey, Calum," I said with a half-hearted smile. He came over with the soccer ball tucked underneath his arm. I really didn't want to talk to him. I wanted to go back downstairs and continue my dude night with Michael.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair flat," he chuckled. "Makes you look like a little kid."

"Um, thanks?" Luke chuckled, thinking that it was a compliment.

"No problem," he answered and then nodded towards Michael's car. "Why is the emo freak at your place?"

"No reason. Just hanging out," I shrugged, not thinking that it was that big of deal.

Calum rose his eyebrows at me, disgusted. "You're hanging out with him? Why?"

"Because that's what friends do..." I trailed off.

"You're friends with him?" he asked, surprised. I just nodded. "That's stupid."

"Why?" I asked, ready to jump to Michael's defense.

"I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but Michael Clifford isn't good to be around. He's actually pretty fucking messed up. A few years ago, I was friends with him and I invited him and a few of my other buddies to my family's cabin over the summer. Well, I had a bonfire the one night and we all sat around and were having a good time until he started acting really weird and then he was trying to make out with me right there in front of all of my friends. After that, I quit talking to him all together and he started to get into all this weird shit like some witch craft and he started worshiping Satan or some shit. He's really messed up and his only friend is that Ashton dork," he told me. "I'm just warning you so you know what he can get to be. He'll start out as your friend but that's because he has a huge crush on you. I'm surprised he and Irwin haven't screwed each other yet. But it's your life."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks, Calum," I told him and started walking towards my house.

I knew that he was lying to me because he just didn't like Michael or the fact that I wasn't hanging out with him and his douche bag friends. If they weren't the school bullies, maybe I would've reconsidered. But I couldn't really relate to them in any way because I liked different things than they did. They were all sports, girls, sports, bullies, etc. Whereas I was more of the artsy and creative person and didn't really get into sports or bullying innocent people and now, girls. Oh, and they're just not as smart as they should be at that age, common sense wise anyway. Calum was the one who had it the most out of his posse. Why hang out with people that you can't really talk to?

I went back into the house, grabbed the popcorn and went back downstairs to see Michael strumming on my guitar. It made me smile because he was someone that I could relate to and have a good conversation with. I could also trust him not to tell the entire school my deepest, darkest secrets like I know Calum would do because it would gain him popularity, as sad as it is.

"Well, it's about time. What took you so long?" he asked, setting my guitar back on the stand.

"My mum made me take the garbage out since the garbage man comes tomorrow morning and then I got stuck talking to Calum for a few minutes," I told him, setting the bowl on the shelf.

Michael just rolled his eyes at the mention of Calum's name. "I can't believe you talk to that guy."

"I really didn't have a choice. My mum made me go make friends with him when we moved here. Don't worry, I don't really like him because he's kind of a dick," I told Michael with a chuckle.

"He's making up for the one that he doesn't have," Michael smirked. "Anyway, what did he want? Did he tell you what a terrible person I was?"

"Yep, pretty much. He said that you tried to basically molest him in front of his friends at his cabin a few years ago," I told him, knowing that Michael would never do that. He was pretty confident that he was straight.

"Of course he would say that. I never even went to his family's cabin. He's hated me since the first day of Year One," Michael scoffed. "He just hates me cause I'm beautiful."

"Makes sense, but why doesn't he hate me?" I asked jokingly.

"Closet hater," Michael laughed.

Both of us just laughed at our insults towards the Kiwi boy next door. I took a seat next to Michael inside the gigantic blanket fort he had formed around the telly.

"So, what movie are we watching?" he asked, grabbing the remote as he switched the telly to Netflix.

"Before we do that, can I talk to you?" I asked him. I had to tell him so I could enjoy the rest of the night. It was going to bother me if I didn't. The odds of him accepting it were going to be good since Ashton is, but there was still that doubt. But I trusted Michael.

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for," he said with a small smile. "What's up?"

"I can trust you, right?" I asked.

"Of course. If I ever tell anyone, which I won't, I give you permission to chop off my balls," he said, both of us chuckling.

"Okay, good," I said and took a deep breath, looking at the green eyed boy. "I think I'm gay."

\----


	17. Chapter 16

[Luke's POV]

I searched Michael's face for any sort of emotion, but I couldn't find any. This was the second person I have told this to in the past twelve hours and I was hoping it wouldn't go like it did with Ashton. Finally, he just nodded, not looking disgusted or anything.

"Well, just less competition for me with the ladies," Michael shrugged with a small smile.

A wide smile crept across my face. "You're not disgusted?"

"No, of course not. I'll tell you the same thing I told Ashton," Michael said. "If you like dick, then you like dick. There's no use in me trying to change that or convince you otherwise. You don't tell me how to live my life, so why would I tell you how to live yours? I have nothing against you if you like guys, just keep your sexual escapades to yourself."

I just smiled at Michael, thankful that he was understanding about it as well. "Thanks, Michael."

"If you don't mind my asking, who all knows?" he wondered.

"Um, well, you...and Ashton. I kind of just found out about it myself," I admitted to him sheepishly.

"He was okay with it, wasn't he? I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't be since he's the same way," Michael continued.

"Yeah, he is," I told him. "Don't tell anyone else, okay? I'm not really ready to come out yet."

"Why on Earth would I want to embarrass one of my best friends?" Michael asked. I quirked my eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that - why on Earth would I want to humiliate one of my best friends by telling one of his secrets?"

"Just making sure. I know if I told Calum, I would be trending right now," I scoffed.

Michael rose his eyebrows. "You actually thought about telling him? You do realize that he would turn from your so-called 'friend' into your biggest and worst nightmare if he found out, right? He's a homophobic asshole."

"No! I would never tell him something like that just because I assumed that he was a homophobic asshole," I told Michael. "Can we watch the movie now?"

"Well, sure. Do you have any other secrets you want to tell me? Like, do you have a third head or something?" Michael joked.

"Dammit. Now you're on to me."  
\----  
It was getting rather late and Michael was already passed out next to me. The movie was ending and I knew that if I were to move that I would wake Michael since he was laying on me and that I would also feel the need to stay up and watch it. I really didn't want to suffer the exhaustion tomorrow at school, so I knew that I should try and sleep, but I was wide awake and knew it was going to take a little bit longer than usual, especially since I'm not at all comfortable like this.

Carefully, I sunk down a little further so my head was comfortably on my pillow. Michael stirred as I did so, but he didn't wake up and just cuddled into me more. I didn't mind that he was doing that because he was like a giant and warm teddy bear, so the heat radiating from him helped me start to feel tired. I just hoped that my mum wouldn't decide to let Ashton in if he decided to come by in the morning. The last thing that I needed him to see was us two cuddling and have him thinking that we were together when Michael was just my other best friend.

Finally, I started to drift to sleep. The only person on my mind was Ashton and what I needed to say to him in order to get him to stop acting like he was.

\----

_"Oh, Ash, you're so hot," I said to the blonde wavy haired boy below me, bending down and kissing his soft and pillowy pink lips._

_"I love you so much," Ashton panted, breaking the kiss for a mere second before he put his lips back on mine and pulled me so I was laying down on top of him._

_I was slightly grinding our groins together, wanting so badly to strip us both free of our skinny jeans. Ashton's hands traced circles onto my back, slowly making their way lower. With a slight groan from me, Ashton's hands went under the waistband of both my jeans and boxers and he was lightly squeezing my bum. The boy was just teasing me now._

_"These are in the way..." Ashton trailed, letting his hands go from my bum to the button of my pants as he started to undo them._

_I helped by stripping off the tight pants and kicking them onto the floor, leaving me in my boxers. As I reconnected our lips, I struggled as I unbuttoned Ashton's jeans, getting them off of him as fast as I could. The feeling that our groins created now that there was only one thin layer of material between us was unbelievable. Now that I've felt it, I knew that I was going to crave it._

_Ashton started fumbling with the elastic band of my boxers, teasing me by threatening to take them off, but didn't. I wanted so badly for us to be completely naked, for Ashton to be writhing in pleasure. Finally, I grabbed hold of Ashton's hands and forced him to pull down my boxers so they were now around my thighs, my hard member on his covered one._

_He brought both of our hands to the top of his boxers, forcing me to start ripping them off of him so we were both completely exposed against each other. I ached to be touched from how much pleasure I was feeling and we hadn't even gotten to the sex yet._

_"Lukey...I'm ready," Ashton exhaled, looking at me with his wet and lust-filled eyes._

_I started kissing down his warm torso until I was just above his hard-on. I glanced up at him, seeing him nod quickly before I continued. His hands tangled in my hair as my lips wrapped around the tip of his hard-_

I jumped awake, sitting all the way up as I panted. I glanced down at my pants, seeing that I was sporting a tent. I looked over at Michael, who was groaning from me throwing him off of me. I couldn't believe that I had just had a wet dream about my best friend while sleeping next to my other best friend.

"What the fuck, Luke?" Michael groaned, propping himself up on his elbow. "It isn't time to get up yet, is it?"

"N-No," I stammered, quickly bunching up the blankets on top of my very obvious bulge.

"Why did you wake me up then?" he asked, now sitting up as well.

"Just had a bad dream is all," I lied, half smiling.

"Well, go back to bed," he said, collapsing back onto the ground.

Disgusted with myself, I muttered that I would be right back as I crawled out of the fort. I made my way to my bathroom, walking awkwardly in. I needed to obviously relieve myself since I wasn't going back into that fort while I was still hard and my best friend was in there. I didn't want to give him the wrong idea.

I looked over at the time, seeing that it was only three in the morning. It was too early to take a shower and get ready for school. After I locked the door, I decided what I was going to do to get over this.  
\----


	18. Chapter 17

[Ashton's POV]

I waited inside my house, not sure if I should start walking or if I should text Michael to see if he was still going to pick me up. He had called into work last night, claiming he was sick, but I had a feeling that it was because of me that he didn't show up. But when we would usually get in an argument, it wouldn't last that long and we were back to being friends the next day. 

"Hello, my darling. What are you still doing here?" mum asked as she came into the kitchen. "Where is your period colored hair friend?" 

"I don't know..." I trailed. For the most part, I told my mother everything. But I just didn't want to go into details on this one. I never really discussed guys with her and I didn't want to tell her that was the reason Michael and I got in an argument, even though he didn't know that.

"What happened between you two? Two days ago, you were almost lovers," mum said to me, making me quirk my eyebrow at her. "What? You guys have that best friend relationship where people question his sexuality."

"I'm pretty sure he's straight, mum," I responded to her. 

"Anyway, what's going on?" she wondered. 

"We got in an argument. It's not that big of deal," I shrugged, not wanting her to press on about it, but I knew that she would. 

"You two never get in arguments. I know for sure that it's a big deal, mister," she said. "What was it about?" 

"Nothing. It was meaningless, mum. Just forget about it," I told her, kind of getting an edge to my voice. 

She was then quiet and I fought the urge to smile to myself. Finally, she was going to listen to me and not press for details like she usually would. But before anything, I turned to look at her and saw that she was on the phone. With Michael.

"Hello, my third son," she said into the phone with a big smile on her face. I was ready to tackle her to the ground right then and there. "Would you care to inform a loving mother as to why her son and might-as-well-be-my-son are fighting? Ashton is acting like a little priss and won't tell me after I casually asked him why he wasn't obsessing over you."

"Mum! Get off the damn phone right now!" I hissed. 

Michael must have been telling her because her smile faltered and she had gotten a confused expression on her face as she looked at me. "Well. I can tell you right now that there is something going on in his little soft hair covered head. I will ask and try to get it out of him, but you're going to be my partner in crime." She put her hand over the mouth of the phone and looked at me. "Is there anything else that you need from him?"

"A damn ride," I scoffed, not thinking that she heard me.

"He would also like to know if you're still picking him up this rainy morning," she asked, earning a quick glare from me. Sometimes, I wanted to punch her. "Great. He'll be waiting. Goodbye, my son!" 

She set her phone on the counter and then looked at me with a confused expression. "What's going on? Michael told me his side and he wants to know if you're okay."

"I'm fine, mum. Don't worry about it." 

\----

The ride to school was rather awkward because of what all was happening with the three of us. Luke and Michael seemed to be getting along as if nothing was happening. I was trying to make it awkward. I just didn't know what to say because I knew that Luke was angry at me about the kiss. We needed to talk, but I couldn't just tell him that I had a crush on him. What if he didn't like me at all? I would make a complete ass of myself. Not that it would be the first time.

I twiddled my thumbs as we pulled into the parking lot, wanting to make a run for it, but at the same time, I didn't want to look like a prick and ditch them again. 

The three of us started walking towards the school, Michael and Luke chatting away and leaving me out of it as the third wheel. It was probably how Luke felt with Michael and I, so I guess it was karma. I started walking a bit faster, wanting to just get away from them because I knew that they weren't going to talk to me anyway. I would rather be by myself instead of being treated like the third friend that nobody ever gives two shits about.

As I got into our locker bay, someone grabbed the sleeve of my jacket. I turned around to see that it was just Michael. "What do you want?" 

"Ashton, we need to talk," he said simply. 

"Not now! We have class in a few minutes," I protested. 

"You're going to choose some boring ass class over whether you lose your best friend or not? Made up my mind," Michael snorted, going to turn around and walk away until I stopped him.

"Fine. I'll talk to you," I huffed. 

Michael nodded towards the stairs and started walking towards it. I reluctantly followed, not really wanting to get into this now, but it's better now than never. The two of us went underneath the stairs where nobody could see us. It was the only stairwell that was open underneath. The school filled the rest up because they were more open then this one and too many teachers were catching students doing the frickle frackle under there. 

I stood under the stairs and looked into Michael's green eyes. His stare was intense and it was obvious that he had a lot to talk about, but he just didn't know how to put it into words. 

"I know, Ashton," he finally said. I felt my eyes widen. Dammit, Luke. I knew that he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "I know about Luke. That's why you were over at his house yesterday morning, wasn't it?" 

"Y-yeah, but I was only trying to help him, Michael," I said, quickly jumping to defense.

"I know. But is that why you were acting weird? Because you weren't sure how to react?" he continued.

"I guess...I'm sorry that I took it out on you. You know that I'm not very good when it comes to hiding things, especially like that. I want to forget the fact that I kissed him, but I just can't because I like that kid," I admitted.

"It's - WAIT. What?! You kissed him?! What the actual fuck, Ash!?" Michael asked, nearly dying. "You kissed Luke?! Why?! Did he want you to?!"

"Wait, what did he tell you? He didn't tell you about the kiss?" I asked.

"No! He just told me that he was gay!" he told me and I instantly started blushing in embarrassment. Instead of getting paranoid about Luke telling him, I should've been paranoid about myself. "That explains so much. Did he ask you to kiss him?"

"Well, no...I was just trying to help him because he told me that he wasn't sure, so I couldn't think of any other way other than to kiss him. That's how you find out, right? Right?!" I rambled.

"There's more than one way to go about it! You do know that he probably wasn't ready for that, right? And you do realize that he probably doesn't have the same feelings for you like you do him, right?!"

\----


	19. Chapter 18

[Ashton's POV]

"He didn't tell you about that?" I asked Michael again as we walked to the cafeteria.

"No, he didn't. But I think you two need to have a serious chat, like, soon," Michael said. "He needs help figuring himself out and you're the only one who knows what he's going through, so you need to break this awkward tension."

I knew he was right. There was no way that I could continue on, trying to act like the kiss never happened because it was very obvious it did. Luke wasn't going to forget about it because I was his first guy kiss. You don't just forget shit like that. 

"I know...but you have to get him to want to talk to me," I told him with a shrug.

"I'm pretty sure that he'll talk to you if you talk to him, Ashton. You have to remember that he's probably just as awkward about it as you are, but it's only awkward if you make it that way," Michael told me. 

When we were in the cafeteria, I spotted Luke at our usual table right away. I wanted to hurry up and talk to him now. I was sick of feeling all awkward about this. It needed to be cleared. Michael and I grabbed our food quickly and then made our way over to where Luke was picking at his food and looking at his phone. When he noticed us, he smiled at Michael and gave me an awkward one as well. I sat down in my usual place across from the blonde and next to Michael. 

"So...I'm going to put this out there right now," Michael started talking a bite out of his apple. "I'm not going to go through forty-five minutes of an awkward as fuck lunch because you two aren't talking. I now know what all happened yesterday morning and I think that you guys need to discuss your feelings and all that happy horse shit. I can leave if you want and I can also stay. It's your guys' call."

Luke and I just looked at Michael, not sure how to respond to his commands. I was all for talking with Luke and I didn't care if Michael was there, but I didn't know if Luke felt the same way. I didn't know if Luke felt the same way about anything I did.

"Um, yeah, I guess," Luke gulped, finally speaking. He looked up at me, his eyes so blue and deep that I could swim in them. Not that I would because that's creepy. I'm not creepy...well, most of the time. "Um, well, I'm not mad at you for what, erm, happened, just so you know."

"You're not?" I asked him, expecting him to be blatantly pissed at me.

"No, I just have never done that before, obviously. You caught me off guard and I didn't know how to react to it," he said.

"I'm sorry that I did that...I really was just trying to help figure out your feelings. There's so many other ways I could've gone about that and I don't know why I didn't do something different," I apologized. Luke was quiet for a minute and then he looked over to Michael.

"Michael, can you go get us all some cookies or something? I'll pay you back," Luke asked, earning a nod from Michael as he got up from the table. He looked back to me, his soft blue eyes meeting my hazel ones. "Don't apologize for it, Ashton."

I scrunched my eyebrows up at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Why? I shouldn't have done it because you probably weren't ready for that yet."

"You're right about me not being ready for it, but I am glad that I had my first gay kiss with you instead of some fuck wit," he said. 

Now he was really confusing me. 

"What...?" I asked, not sure of what else to say. "Luke...what are you meaning?"

"What do you think I mean?" he asked, his face not showing any type of emotion to help me figure out what he was actually meaning instead of what I was hoping to God he meant. 

Before I could answer, none other than the 'wonderful' Calum Hood showed up at our table. He gave me a glare, but then got all smiley when he looked at Luke. 

"Hey, Luke. You wanna sit with us today? We have a seat open and would hate to see you sit with these fucktards," Calum asked him. His eyes shot over to me. "No offense, fag."

Luke looked at me, a tinge of sympathy flashed in his eyes. "Um, no. I'm pretty comfortable here." 

"Okay...if you want to sit by those two rejects, go for it. Remember what I told you," Calum warned, glaring at me again. "Also, don't let this faggot turn you gay. He has that effect if you hang around him too long. Look at Michael."

After he walked away, I just looked at Luke, who was blushing in embarrassment. "Can I ask why you're friends with that asshole?" 

"Because he's my neighbor and my mum gave me no fucking choice," he told me. "Don't worry, I can't stand him or his friends. They're too insulting towards people. And my friends."

I just nodded, not sure of what to say next. I wanted to go back to what we were talking about before Calum rudely interrupted and insulted me, but I didn't know how to bring it back up. I knew that this was probably going to be the only chance I would get at this today, but I just couldn't find the courage inside me to ask him again. 

"Do you have to work tonight?" he asked, tearing me from my thoughts. 

"Yeah, for a few hours. It isn't a full shift. I just have to cover for two hours because Pete has some date or something. Probably with his mother," I chuckled, but then remembered that Luke didn't know Pete like Michael and I did. 

"Well, you have a lot of faith in his love life," Luke joked.

"Have you seen Pete? He's not exactly a ladies man. Not because of his looks, but because of idiocy," I explained to the blonde, who just laughed. 

"I'm sure some girls are into that," Luke chuckled. "Granted, they may not be smart, but..."

"An idiot is probably what he would end up with if he would hurry up and move out of his mother's basement already," I laughed. 

It was good to finally be laughing and joking around with Luke again, even if I didn't get the answer to his question.

\----


	20. Chapter 19

[Ashton's POV]

I was at work, literally counting down the minutes until I could get off. The night was rather slow and I hated slow days. You don't know if it's going to be busy or not, so you hurry and get everything done and then it turns out to be deserted and then you have absolutely nothing to do except listen to the radio and wait for a customer to come in. It's the next thing to Hell. 

I was reading through our catalog, trying to find something that I could spend some of my paycheck on. There was a few new shirts that looked cool, but I didn't know what ones I wanted because I was an indecisive fool when it came to that. 

"I see that you're working hard."

I looked up to see Michael walking into the store. He didn't have to work tonight, so he was just bored and wanted to come keep me company. He was wearing a snap back and leather jacket over a Sum 41 t-shirt, trying to make himself look punk rock, which made me laugh because I knew damn well that he wasn't at all punk rock. The kid skipped school to go to Starbucks for Christ sake.

"Yeah, it's quite the happening place tonight," I laughed. 

Michael jumped on the counter, acting like he owned the place. I looked back down at the catalog, continuing where I left off from. "So, how's everything going with Lucas?" 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Because you guys seemed to be happily talking at lunch. I was watching you from afar," Michael said.

"Some people call that stalking," I told him with a laugh. 

"So...are my two best friends best friends again?" he asked, antsy to know the answer. 

"Yeah. But he did say something before we were interrupted by Calum," I started.

Michael quirked his eyebrow. "What the hell did he want?" 

"To be the asshole he is," I told him. 

"Shocker," he said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what did Luke say?"

"He just said that he was happy that he had his first gay kiss with me and that I shouldn't be sorry that I did it," I told him nonchalantly. "I don't think he meant anything by it, but I asked him what he meant, and he answered with 'What do you think I mean?' and then Calum interrupted and he never answered me."

Michael just looked at me and I could see that he was thinking about it, letting what I told him process through his mind. He then smirked at me and gave me a playful punch on the arm. "I think your crush has a crush on you."

"Shut up. He does not," I answered with a smile. There was no way that he could like me. He was just happy that I gave him his deciding kiss since we were friends. Nothing more. It couldn't be. 

"Really, Ash? 'What do you think I mean?' and not to be sorry for kissing him?! Isn't it anymore obvious that Luke likes you!? Does he need to fucking sky write it?" Michael responded.

"No, he doesn't need to sky write it because I know that he doesn't like me anymore than a friend. He just was happy because we're friends and he didn't have his first kiss with a douche bag like Calum," I told him. 

Michael gave me a dramatic eye roll. "You are the most blindest person I know. Good God, the kid could scream it in your face and you wouldn't think he likes you."

"I am not blind!" I defended as Michael jumped off the counter.

"Oh, really? Then why won't you admit that Luke likes you because he's making it obvious that he does," he continued.

"You can say he likes me all you want, but I won't believe it until he tells me himself," I told him, crossing my arms.

"He'll never tell you until you give him some obvious signs that you do feel the same way. Don't keep telling him that the kiss didn't mean anything to you because you know damn well that it means a lot more than that," Michael told me. "If he flirts with you, you have to flirt back. You can't let it go unnoticed because that means he will just move on. You don't want that, do you?"

"No, but if he doesn't have feelings for me-"

"Ashton, you need to shut the fuck up and listen to me. Luke likes you. He has feelings for you. He wouldn't have told you not to be sorry about it and he wouldn't have asked you what you thought he meant by saying he was happy that you were his first gay kiss. I'm telling you that you need to open your innocent eyeballs and look at the boy who is trying to make his feelings obvious for you and you need to show that you are willing to return the same feelings," Michael told me.

"But what if we're wrong? You can't be so sure of yourself, Mikey," I said.

"Well, then you need to observe. See if he does. Ask him to hang out with you," he said. "Get your phone."

"Right now? Can't you just do it? I'm at work," I said, making excuses.

"Oh yeah, you're really busy with costumers right now," he sassed. "Go get it."

I sighed and went into the back room where our lockers were, grabbing my phone from inside my small metal box. I turned it on and hurried back out into the store, hoping that there wasn't any costumers that had come in within the last twenty seconds. 

"There wasn't a crowd while you were gone," Michael smirked. "Nobody was here other than the amazing me."

I just rolled my eyes. "Do you have Luke's number? All I have is his Facebook."

"Well, does he respond to you on it right away?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, he has Messenger on his phone," I told him. 

"Then use that," he shrugged and then got a smirk on his face. "You have to let him give you his number because that would make it more special than me giving it to you."

Again, I rolled my eyes and opened Messenger, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. "What am I saying?"

"Ask him if he wants you to pick him up after work," he said.

"One problem and that is that I don't have a car," I told him.

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Drop me off before you pick him up and you can use mine."

"Are y-"

"Yes! Just text the boy, dammit!" Michael pushed.

**Ashton Irwin:** hey Luke :)

**Luke Hemmings:** Hey Ashton. Aren't you at work?

**Ashton Irwin:** Yeah. But it's slow. :/ 

"Holy fuck, just ask him already," Michael said, now looking over my shoulder.

"Jesus, Michael. Don't scare me like that," I told him.

"Then ask him out!" Michael responded.

**Ashton Irwin:** Do you want to hang out when I'm off? I can pick you up.

**Luke Hemmings:** Sure. When?

**Ashton Irwin:** In about 45 minutes. Maybe Pete will let me off earlier. :)

**Luke Hemmings:** That works.

**Ashton Irwin:** Great! I'll see you then!

"So are you in?" Michael asked, a smirk on his face.

"Yes, yes, I am."

\----


	21. Chapter 20

[Luke's POV]

I threw on something to make me look presentable and human (and cute because it's Ashton) before Ashton came to pick me up. I was actually nervous because it was only go to be the two of us as far as I knew. Why was I so nervous? It's not like Ashton was going to kiss me again. That was a one time thing.

Before I could continue to think anymore, there was a car beeping in my driveway. I grabbed my jacket from the back of the kitchen chair and hurried out out to Ashton. From my house's outside lights, I could see that it was only Ashton in it, which made a herd of butterflies appear in my stomach. Ashton was just my friend, so I didn't understand why I was getting so nervous.

I hurried out to the car, jumping into the passenger's side and noticed that it was Michael's. I wanted to question it, but figured that it would probably be a good idea not to.

"Well, hello," Ashton said, a smile on his face.

I looked over at him, trying not to lose all of my composure when I looked at his big and beautiful hazel eyes. "Hey, Ash."

He backed out of the driveway, the only sound filling the car was the radio. I didn't know what to say to him, which was odd since I always had something on my mind to say. It was also weird that Ashton wasn't saying anything because he was always a conversationalist.

"So, where we going?" I asked, deciding to break the awkward-yet-not-awkward silence.

"I wasn't really sure. I hadn't thought that far," Ashton chuckled. "Where do you want to go?"

"Um, we can go wherever. I don't really care," Luke told him with a smile.

After a moment, Ashton spoke up. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, just a few pieces of pizza. Why?" I asked.

"Well, we could go to that ice cream place if you want," Ashton suggested, biting his lip nervously.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I agreed, not being able to hold the smile in as Ashton nodded in agreement.

The drive there felt like it took forever, mainly because I was overthinking and freaking out even though this wasn't a date. We were just two friends that were hanging out and getting ice cream, nothing more. I have to keep telling myself that otherwise I'm going to drive myself insane.

There wasn't that many people that were there, which didn't really surprise me considering it's later at night and not many people went to get ice cream at night. Ashton parked along the street and hurried to get out of the car. As I went to open my door, it was yanked open and a smiling Ashton was looking down at me.

"And I thought chivalry was dead," I chuckled, getting out of the vehicle that was actually rather low to the ground, at least to me and my long legs it was.

"It is, but I felt like bringing it back. Kinda like a Throwback Thursday," Ashton chuckled as we walked into the small ice cream shop.

"You do realize that it's a Wednesday, right?" I laughed.

"Fine, Way Back Wednesday if you're going to be Mr. Politically Correct," he joked.

There was a young girl that finally appeared out of the back to take our orders. I grabbed my wallet out of my pocket and started digging out the money when Ashton smacked my hands. I looked up at him, confused.

"Don't bother. It's on me," he smiled.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's no trouble," I told him. I've never liked when people paid for me when they didn't have to. It made me feel needy and like I owed them.

"Yes, I'm sure. I brought you here, I'm paying for you," Ashton said with a smile. It was no use arguing, so I just smiled back.

When the girl handed us our ice cream, she looked between us with a smug smile. She told Ashton the price and he paid her the exact amount. "Have a good night, boys."

I looked at her again and she gave us a wink, but Ashton didn't notice as he was already shoving his face into the ice cream cone. I licked at it slowly, sitting down across from Ashton at one of the tables. Neither of us spoke since we both were occupied.

"What kind did you get again?" Ashton asked after he licked the rim of his cone.

"I got cookie dough," I said, taking a quick lick of it. "You?"

"Cookies and cream," he smiled. "I've never really tasted cookie dough. Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's the next thing to amazing," I chuckled. "Do you want to try it?"

"Sure! That is, if you don't mind my germs on your ice cream," he laughed.

"It's fine," I told him. I extended my arm out to him and felt my cheeks heat up as he licked it. I don't know why, but I thought it was rather hot. "Like it?"

"Yeah, but I think I'll stick with my cookies and cream," he joked. "Do you want to have some since I stole some of yours?"

I gulped. "Sure."

I took some of his ice cream, not making eye contact because that would make it awkward and that's the last thing I wanted to happen. I nodded when I was done, approving of the flavor. "That's better than mine."

"So, cookie dough is no longer the next thing to amazing?" he chuckled.

"I would have to say that they're tied for that spot," I joked, admiring the boys sparkly smile.

We looked at each other and it felt like time stopped in that instant. The thought occurred to me that I was definitely gay, or maybe I was just Ashton-sexual. I've never felt this drawn to someone and I didn't even care that it was a boy. It was an amazing boy in my opinion.

\----

"It's a beautiful night out," Ashton said as we laid on the hill in the park, both of us staring up at the clear dark sky.

"Yeah, it is," I responded.

It sounded like we were on a date, but I knew that it wasn't. It was just the two of us hanging out as friends and neither of us wanted to be like normal teenagers and hangout at home. That was overrated. Suddenly, I saw a bright light shining in the corner of my eye. I looked over to see that Ashton was on his phone, responding to a text message. If it were a date, he wouldn't be on his phone.

I turned my attention back to the sky and let my mind wander, but it stopped when I felt something warm against my arm. I looked down, seeing that Ashton's arm was against mine, as if he moved closer. I didn't let myself think into it, knowing that I would probably take it differently than it was intended. Just as I thought that, I felt his long fingers gently entangle with mine, holding my hand softly. A blush crept onto my face and I looked over at the boy, who was still staring up at the stars. I smiled slightly, not at all freaking out inside that the boy I was apparently crushing on was holding my hand.

"Sorry," Ashton whispered, taking his hand away.

I looked over at him, an embarrassed expression on his face as he kept his hands on his stomach. I reached over, gently grabbing his hand again, just tighter this time. "No, don't be."

"W-what?" he squeaked, his hazel eyes meeting my blue ones.

"Don't apologize," I told him with a small smile. "Same with that kiss; don't be sorry that it happened."

Ashton looked at me confused, but then he smiled at me, squeezing my hand back. Hopefully, he got the hint that I was trying to give him.

\----


	22. Chapter 21

[Ashton's POV]

I couldn't believe that Luke was actually going along with this. I was in bliss. This is the moment I had been waiting for ever since I had first seen Luke, as cheesy as that is. I actually didn't expect Luke to want to hold my hand or even be anything more than friends, even though he didn't necessarily say that he did. He was just acting like it and that's all that I cared about at the moment.

"What do you mean by telling me not to be sorry?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"What do you think, Ashton?" Luke responded.

"Don't answer my question with a question," I chuckled. "Seriously, though. What do you mean?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Luke said. Now he was just being a little tease.

"Stop trying to be all mysterious. You're too cuddly for that," I joked.

We had been laying there for what felt like forever, not that I could complain. It had definitely taken a turn that I didn't think would happen. I didn't expect Luke to flirt with me at all or even catch on that this was a date. Well, it was in Michael and Ashton's minds, but he didn't try to treat it like one because he didn't want to scare Luke away. But was it now considered a date since they're holding hands?

"About the kiss and everything, I don't want you to apologize for something that both of us wanted to do," Luke finally said.

I turned my head towards him, unsure if I was hearing him right. "W-what?"

Luke just smiled, his eyes twinkling from the moonlight. Before I could ask him what again, he was hovering above me and his lips gently captured mine. I was a bit taken by surprise, not kissing him back at first, but then our lips started to move together in sync.

I brought my hand up to his cheek, brushing the skin ever so lightly. To passerbys, it looked like we were making out. But we were actually just sharing our real first kiss. There was no tongue or lust, just a sweet simple kiss.

Luke was the one to break away. He looked down at me and gave me a small smile, which I couldn't help but return. As I looked up at him, I noticed how beautiful Luke actually was. He wasn't hot, he was beautiful.

"You're a very good kisser," Luke giggled.

"You're pretty good yourself," I responded.

We just laid there for a while, Luke still on top of me, and stared into each other's eyes. Eventually, Luke got tired and decided to cuddle into my chest, which I'm not going to complain about.

\----

I actually didn't expect to sleep there all night. But considering the way I woke up, I wasn't at all mad that I did.

Luke was now spooning me, his arms around me tightly. I couldn't help but be happy about it. We didn't necessarily establish whether we were official or not, but let's just say that I wouldn't mind waking up like this more often.

I grabbed my phone, which was lying next to me. I saw that I had a text from Michael and it was about him having to ask his mum for a ride to school. I looked at the time, seeing that we had already missed our first two classes and that meant that I probably would skip the rest of the day, which meant that Luke probably would too.

I quickly sent a text to Michael, saying that Luke and I would pick him up after school. Michael replied with a selfie of him and his middle finger, which caused me to chuckle at. That's when Luke started to stir behind me. I felt a pang of guilt that I was the one who caused him to wake up, but at the same time I was happy because I wanted to see him again since everything was going to be different now that we both got our feelings out on the table.

"Morning," Luke greeted in my ear, his morning voice raspy and honestly, sexy as fuck.

"Morning, Luke," I answered, turning myself so I was facing him.

"Did we seriously fall asleep out here last night?" Luke asked, looking amused as he looked around at our surroundings.

"Yes, we did. And we also kind of skipped school," I told him with a smirk.

"Aren't we rebellious? We fell asleep in a park for the night and skipped school. What other things have we done?" Luke chuckled.

"I technically stole Michael's car," I giggled.

"Add grand theft auto to the résumé," Luke joked.

For the millionth time in the last twelve hours, we just laid there and stared into each other's eyes. I could have done that all day because Luke's were so beautiful. Each time I look in them I would get lost.

Suddenly, Luke pecked my cheek and gave me an innocent smile afterwards. I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute it actually was.

"You missed," I muttered with a wide grin on my face.

"What?"

To answer Luke's question, I scootched myself closer to him and then crashed our lips together, feeling instant sparks once again. He rolled on his back, which drug me on top of him. His hands went straight to my waist, gently rubbing circles into them. I could honestly do this all day as well. I loved kissing Luke.

Our lips moved perfectly in sync. I felt his tongue graze my bottom lip, but I wasn't sure I wanted to that quite yet. Not until we were official.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked when I broke away after he wouldn't stop begging me for entrance into my mouth.

"I...what are we?" I asked, finally getting the balls.

"Human," he answered sarcastically, making both of us laugh.

"You know what I meant, Luke," I said.

"What do you want us to be?" he asked, going ahead with answering my questions with a question. Again.

I just shrugged, not sure what to say. Who knows, Luke could just look at me as a friend with benefits and not want to be in a relationship yet. I would doubt it, but you never know.

"Ashton Irwin, would you like to my wonderful boyfriend?" Luke suddenly asked, tearing me out of my thoughts.

I nearly choked, frankly not really expecting him to ask me that question. I expected him to ask me on a date if anything.

"Um, uh, yes. Yes!" I answered, beaming down at my now-boyfriend.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to his multiple times, not being able to hide my smile. I had every reason to be happy.

\----

Luke and I were pulled up outside the school, leaning against the car as we waited for Michael to come out. It took every urge in me not to start making out with him. We had decided we weren't going to do the PDA at school yet, considering that he was still in the closet and he was unfortunately friends with Calum yet. It made me kind of sad that I couldn't kiss my boyfriend in front of people, but I understood where he was coming from.

"Do you have to work tonight?" Luke asked.

"Shit, yeah. Thanks for reminding me," I giggled. A pang of disappointment shot through me. I wanted to spend the afternoon with Luke. "You can hangout there until I get off if you want."

"I would have to talk to my mum. She's probably worried because I didn't come home last night," Luke said as a blush crept onto his cheeks.

"Well, well, well. Look who's alive!" Michael shouted when he approached us.

I tossed him the keys and got into the passenger side of the car. Michael drove off and took a turn in the wrong direction of any of our houses.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Wanted to take the long way home," he answered. "Also wanted to know why Lucifer back there is literally the heart eye emoji."

I looked back at my boyfriend, seeing him blush. I couldn't help but smile. The boy was just so adorable.

"Well?" Michael pressured.

"Ashton and I...we're together," Luke said. I could hear the smile on his voice.

"Wait, what?!" Michael said excitedly.

"Yep," I responded.

"So, who tops?" he asked.

I punched him in the arm. "Michael Gordon Clifford!"

"It's a valid question! And don't call me by my middle name," he said, rubbing where I had hit him.

"We just got together!" I told him.

"It's a rule. From the start, you have to know who's top and who's bottom," Michael explained.

"In what rule book? Yours?" I scoffed.

"Maybe."

"Idiot."

\-----


	23. Chapter 22

[Luke's POV]

I felt kind of weird as I walked into my house, mainly because I was now hiding a very big secret. It was weird because I usually told my parents everything and now I was keeping a huge thing from them. My mum was standing in the kitchen, humming to some annoying song on the radio. I expected her to be pissed as hell at me since I didn't come home last night. She looked to be in such a good mood and as soon as she saw me, she was going to turn into a savage murderer.

"Oh, hey, Luke! How was your day?" she said when she turned around and started putting the vegetables she had chopped into a bowl.

"It was fine," I answered, a bit taken aback by her chirpy and happy tone. Maybe she was trying the sneak attack method.

"Did you have fun last night?" she asked.

I gulped. "Y-yeah. It was alright."

"Good. You know, I really like that Michael boy. He's very sweet," she smiled, definitely catching me off guard with that.

"W-What?" I asked, nervous.

"Michael? Isn't that his name? He has the colorful hair?" she asked, giving me a confused expression. I just nodded. "He called last night to tell me that you were going to either be home rather late or just sleep over."

I just looked at her and smiled, thanking God that Michael had my back. I owed him big time for saving my ass. "Yeah, that's Michael for you. Always has to kiss up to the adults."

"Well, I appreciate it," she laughed. "By the way, Joy Hood called earlier and wondered if you wanted to hang out with Calum tonight."

"Um, why?" I asked, not wanting to sound rude because I really didn't like Calum because of how he treated my friends and boyfriend.

"Because he's grounded and she and David are going out. Basically, they don't trust him alone and want to be sure that he obeys them, and they believe that you're a good influence on him," she explained.

I remembered that Ashton had invited me to hang out with him and Michael at work tonight, which I wanted to do so badly since he was my boyfriend. I didn't want to have to ditch Ashton for a douche bag, but I knew that Joy and David were depending on me to keep Calum in line. Also, my mum would be disappointed if I just ditched Calum for those two because she's of the thinking that Calum and I are really good friends.

"So, are you going to or not? They have to leave in a little bit, so I need to call them and let them know if they're going to have to find someone else," she asked, looking at me expectantly.

"Um, yeah...I guess. I can cancel my plans with Ashton and Michael," I told her, hoping she would catch onto the fact that I didn't want to hangout with Calum.

"You had plans with them? When were you going to tell me about them?" she wondered.

"Well, it was going to be before you brought this up," I shrugged.

"What were you going to be doing? Are you able to cancel?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal. I was just going to hangout with them when they got off of work," I told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Luke. I mean, I know they're your closest friends, but Calum's also your friend. You need to make time for all of them, okay?" she told me.

I wanted so badly to tell her how Calum was an asshole to Ashton and Michael and that I didn't really care for him because of that, but I didn't want to sound like I was making up excuses. Plus, I knew that Ashton and Michael wouldn't get too uptight about it. They understood that we had to be friends because we were neighbors.

"Yeah, I know, mum. Go ahead and tell Joy I'll be over in a bit," I said, putting on a half smile as I went downstairs to my room. I needed to change these clothes before they crawled off of me.

\----

I walked up the Hoods' driveway, my backpack slung over my shoulder. There front porch light was on, despite it still being sunny out. I really didn't want to do this. I was trying to find bright sides, such as getting to know the nice side of Calum, but my brain kept picking out the negatives and I gave up.

It took one knock before Joy answered the door with her cheery smile. I liked her. She was a sweet woman and I had nothing against her. It was her son that rubbed me the wrong way.

"Luke! Hello! Thank you so much for doing this," Joy told me as she let me in.

"Yeah, it's no problem," I smiled. Lie number one.

"There's money for pizza or take away Chinese food or something on the table," she said, pointing to the money laying on the empty table. "Calum can play video games and watch the telly and be on his phone, but he can't go out and if any of his friends come over, they are not allowed in. I don't think that we'll have to worry since you seem like a good boy, but just in case, here's our cell phone numbers if he gets out of hand."

I took the post-it note from her and looked at the two phone numbers scribbled down before shoving it in her pocket. "What time do you think you'll be home?"

"It won't be too late, but probably around ten. If it gets later, you can stay the night even though you have school in the morning. It's not like you live miles away," Joy said with a smile on her face.

David walked into the room and a smile appeared on his face as well. I liked him too. Both Joy and David were really nice and awesome people. They just had son with a douchey side to him. They couldn't help that.

"Hello, Luke. I'm sorry if this interrupted any plans you had tonight," David said apologetically.

"No, it didn't. I was probably going to play FIFA at home all night anyway," I chuckled. Lie number two.

"Thank you though. It's not that we don't trust Calum, because we do, he's just mad at us about this and when he gets angry at us, he tends to want to rebel. We just don't have the time or energy for that rig-" David started to explain, but was cut off by Calum walking into the room.

The kid had a pissed off expression as he looked at his parents, but then broke into a smile as if he wasn't mad at them. "Well, hey, there Hemmo."

"Hi, Cal," I answered. "Hemmo?"

"Just kinda came up with it, you know?" Calum smirked. He turned to his parents. "So, this is your reinforcement? You're using one of my friends to babysit me?"

"No, that's not why we're doing this, Calum. He's not here to babysit you. We know how you get when this happens and Luke is just here to help you calm down, okay? He's your friend. We're not punishing you with him," David explained to his son, who was glaring at him like no tomorrow.

"You're making me look like I'm a problem child! You're grounding me for no reason and then on top of that, you're making Luke think that I need him to babysit me because I'm a hell raiser?! That's low, even for you," Calum insulted.

"We aren't trying to make you out as a bad pers-" Joy started, but was cut off.

"Bullshit you aren't! You always complain to your bullshit friends how complicated it is to have me as a son and how I'm worse than Mali ever was. You think that I don't overhear you guys saying that when you bring to those lame parties?!" Calum scolded, full-on yelling now. 

"Calum Thomas! You don't speak that way to us ever again, do you hear me? You'll get grounded for another week if I hear that foul language come out of your mouth again!" David yelled. "You don't yell at me or your mother either! Especially in front of company!"

I just nonchalantly stepped back so I was out of the firing zone. It was that awkward moment when your friend is fighting with their parents in front of you and you don't know what to do. I snuck a glance at each of them, seeing that Joy was near tears. That hit me because Joy was such a sweet and gentle woman, she didn't deserve to cry. David looked as though he were ready to pounce at Calum if he were to say one more hurtful thing to them. Calum looked like he could have smoke coming out his ears and like he was about to punch David in the face. It hurt me to see them fighting like this because they were such a nice family when everyone was in good spirits (and not bullying in Calum's case).

"Luke, good luck. I'm sure Joy explained everything already. Call us if it gets out of hand," David said, trying to stay collected as he wrapped his arms around his wife and walked out of the door.

After they were gone, I just stood in place because I wasn't entirely sure what to do since Calum was pissed as all hell. I didn't want to be in his line of fire if he were to start throwing shit. He took off into his living room and I awkwardly followed. He was grumbling cuss words and other unmentionable phrases under his breath. I was tempted to call my mum and tell her that Calum has gone insane, but I didn't want him to go ape shit on me.

"I'm sorry that they're making you fucking do this," Calum sneered, looking back at me.

"It's no big deal," I answered gently, not wanting to get a chair thrown at my head.

"No, it isn't. You're being forced to hangout - or babysit in my parents words - with me," he said.

"I'm not being forced, Calum. I came over voluntarily," I told him.

"Cut the shit, Luke. I know that you don't like me that much. Not a lot of people do and I don't blame you. You can go home if you want. I'll just tell my fucking parents you left when I fell asleep," he said, sounding both sad and angry.

"Calum, I'm fine hanging out here. And it's not that I don't like you. I just don't like how you treat Michael and Ashton. You're a good guy, really. I'm not going to leave you here when you're pissed off. We're going to hangout and we're going to have a damn good time, okay?" I said, suddenly feeling ballsy.

"It doesn't look like I have a choice in the matter."

\----


	24. Chapter 23

[Ashton's POV]

I was casually checking out a customer's items and casually looking behind them at the door. We had been working for a few hours now and I was waiting for Luke to come in. I wanted to see him and I was looking forward to it. He was my boyfriend now and I could kiss him in public and I could do the annoying PDA that I hated. Michael and Pete might get disgusted, but it's whatever. They would understand because they knew how much I liked Luke. 

"Yo, Ash, pay attention," Michael said, interrupting my thoughts. 

"Huh?" I asked, but then looked down at the girl, who had her credit card in her hand, trying to hand it to me but I was too busy thinking about Luke. "Oh, sorry."

"Not a problem," the girl smiled, patiently waiting while I ran her card.

"Just excuse him. He's probably too busy daydreaming about his boyfriend," Michael chirped. I looked over at him, glaring as I felt my cheeks redden.

"Oh, you have a boyfriend? That's so cute! What's his name?" the girl asked. 

"His name is Luke," I told her, blushing majorly. 

"Aw, I'm sure you two are a cute couple. What's your name?" she asked as I handed her the receipt.

"Ashton," I said.

"Your ship name is...Lashton," the girl said with a smile. I just turned an even redder red, if that was possible.

"More importantly, what's your name?" Michael asked, turning on his flirting mechanism.

"Sylvia," Sylvia said with a sweet smile. 

"Michael, don't scare the poor girl away with your terrible flirting tactics," I told him, saving him before he got hurt.

"Oh, he won't scare me. He can flirt all he wants, I just won't flirt back," Sylvia said, causing the two of us to look at her in confusion. "I have a girlfriend."

"Wait - you bat for the other side?" Michael asked.

"Yeah...do you have a problem with that? Because that's weird if you do, considering your coworker here has a boyfriend," Sylvia said, putting up a front that said I'm-not-going-to-take-your-shit. 

"No, I don't have a problem with it. I'm just extremely jealous of your girlfriend," Michael said, his cheeks heating up. 

Sylvia just laughed. "What are you doing after work? Maybe Ashton could introduce me to this Luke fellow. You don't have to if you don't want to since we literally just met, but if you want..." Sylvia trailed, biting her lip as she waited for an answer. I could see that Michael was trying to contain himself, being that he was a sucker for lip biting.

"Um, yeah. He actually should be coming by soon. He said he was going to drop in, but yeah, I think that would be fine," I told her, glancing at the door.

"Alright, great. Do you guys have a piece of paper so I can write down my number?" Sylvia asked, looking between Michael and I. 

I didn't have to even lift a finger to get the piece of paper because Michael was already on top of it. Sylvia and I couldn't help but laugh because it was amusing that he had a crush on a girl who he literally had a snowball's chance in hell unless he cut off his dick. She scribbled down the number and slid across the counter. 

"Yeah, so when you guys are off, just give me a call and we can get ice cream or something," Sylvia said.

"Definitely will," I told her with a smile. "See you later, Sylvia."

"Bye, sweetcheeks," Michael waved.

Sylvia laughed as she walked out of the store. I knew Michael and I knew that he was going to flirt with her, thinking that he was going to change her to at least being bisexual. Michael was weird like that. He didn't like to think realistically when it came to women. 

"You're so pathetic, Clifford," I laughed.

"For harmlessly flirting with an attractive girl?" Michael asked, his face straight.

"An attractive girl that has a girlfriend! You realize that she was laughing at you, right?" I told him, not being able to contain my laughter. 

"Fuck you, Irwin," Michael said, narrowing his eyes.

"There will be no fucking in the store, boys," Pete said, walking out from the back room.

"Michael was trying to get with a girl who had a girlfriend," I told Pete, causing Michael to glare at me even more. 

"Are you looking to get your genitals removed, Michael? My cousin's a plastic surgeon, maybe I could get you a discount?" Pete sassed.

"She was hot, okay?! I can't help but flirt with girls that are hot as fuck," Michael said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Poorly flirting at that," Pete added.

\----

Luke still hadn't come in. I had tried texting him, but he hadn't texted me back. I knew I was probably overreacting, but he said that he would come by tonight. It also wasn't like him not to answer me back within a few minutes. It had been hours. Luke had said that he wasn't doing anything tonight, so what was going on?

"Ashton, don't freak out. He probably had something come up," Michael said, patting my back. "Otherwise, maybe he was one of those shy guys who's nervous about seeing you." 

I blushed at that, knowing that Luke was a shy guy. "But we spent the whole day together."

"Yeah, but he didn't have much of a choice. He's probably just nervous about seeing you again because it's hitting him that you're his boyfriend. Don't be worried, Ash. I'll text him and tell him to meet us here after work, okay? Then we can go show him off to Sylvia," Michael said with a smile. 

This was part of the reason he was my best friend. He knew that I overreacted sometimes and he would do his best to try and calm me down. It worked 90% of the time and I couldn't be more thankful for that. If I wouldn't have him, I would've driven myself crazy a long time ago. 

The rest of the night was pretty slow, mostly because it was close to closing time. Michael had sent a text to Luke, telling him to meet us there. He also texted Sylvia to tell her that we were getting off in about ten minutes and Luke was supposed to also be meeting us at the store. Michael didn't tell Luke about Sylvia, just in case if he was one of those who would get cold feet and not show up. 

Sylvia showed up to the store as Pete, Michael, and I walked out and locked up. She was alone, sadly. I was expecting her to bring her girlfriend, but I guess she didn't want to do that tonight. I didn't blame her. I wouldn't bring Luke if I were in her shoes. 

"Hey, guys," Sylvia said sweetly.

"Is this the girl that Michael has a snowball's chance in Hell of getting?" Pete asked, causing Sylvia and I to start laughing and Michael to just glare.

"Yes, yes, I am," Sylvia clarified when she calmed down from laughing.

"Well, I'm sorry you're one of the recipients of his hopeless flirting," Pete told her with a completely straight face.

"It's alright. It's kind of cute actually. But if it gets too bad, I'll just send my girlfriend after his ass," Sylvia giggled. 

"Watch out, Clifford. The last thing you need is to have a girl that is overcome with jealousy chasing your ass. They're vicious," Pete warned him. "It was lovely meeting you. Have a good night, chilluns."

We bid goodbye to Pete and the three of us leaned against the wall of the mall, waiting for Luke to show up. I kept checking my phone every five seconds, anxious for Luke to reply, but he didn't. I was starting to get worried about him. It wasn't like him to not respond to me at all. He couldn't be mad at me because I didn't do anything to him.

"Has Luke texted you back yet?" I asked Michael, trying not to sound worried, but it didn't come out that way. 

"No, but don't worry, Ash. He'll be here soon. His phone is probably dead or he lost it," Michael reassured, but this time it wasn't going to work.

"Wait, he didn't stop by like he said or hasn't texted you?" Sylvia asked, a puzzled expression on her face. 

"No. I texted him on all of my breaks and he hasn't answered me," I told her. She frowned.

"I'm sorry, Ashton," she said. "Don't worry. Michael's probably right."

I just shrugged, scared of what was happening with my boyfriend. An announcement came over the speakers, saying that we had five minutes until the mall closed. The three of us began walking towards the food court exit, not saying anything.

"Do you want to see if he's home? Maybe his parents took him out somewhere and he forgot his phone," Michael suggested, trying to make me less worried, but it really wasn't working. 

"I guess. What could it hurt? The worst he can do is ignore me," I agreed. I then looked at Sylvia. "Do you want to come with? I mean, if he's home, then you can meet him." 

"Well, I don't want to go with just to meet him. I want to go just to make sure that everything is okay," Sylvia said with a sympathetic smile, patting my back. 

"Thanks, Sylvia," I said with a sad smile. I was worried about Luke, but I knew that it was only me overreacting. He was probably spending time with his family. I couldn't be mad at him for that. 

\----

We arrived at Luke's house and saw that only the porch lights were on. It didn't necessarily mean that Luke wasn't home because they could be watching a movie with all of the lights off or Luke could be in his room and his family had just went to bed or something. It was late at night, so it wouldn't be surprising if Luke was just downstairs and his family was asleep. That's what I was hoping for anyway.

Michael looked over at me when we pulled into the drive. "Do you want to just go alone or do you want us to go with you? You know, as reinforcements."

I just chuckled at him. "No, I can go. If he's home, you guys can come in. Or I'll just kidnap him."

"Don't be getting kinky in my car," Michael warned. 

I just smirked and rolled my eyes, getting out of the car and walking up to Luke's front door. I wanted him to be home because I wanted to see him. It was cheesy, but even though I spent the whole day with him and saw him only a few hours ago, I missed him as if I hadn't seen him for months. The honeymoon phase is what some would call it. 

I wasn't sure whether to knock or ring the doorbell because I didn't want to wake up his parents if they were sleeping. So, I just pulled my phone out and pulled up Luke's contact, pressing call. There was about six rings before I got an answer.

"Hey! It's Luke. I'm obviously not able to answer the phone right now, so leave a message and I'll call you back if I feel the need to talk to you! Bye!" Luke's sweet voice said through the voicemail. 

He sounded so happy and I felt a little sad that he was ignoring me. I couldn't say that he was ignoring me though because what if he was asleep or his phone was dead or he was spending quality time with his family? I didn't want to be that obsessive, clingy, dramatic boyfriend. I was trying not to be anyway, yet here I am, standing on his front porch. 

Cringing at myself, I walked back down to Michael's car and got in the front seat. It was surprisingly quiet when I got in, Sylvia playing on her phone and Michael fiddling around with the radio. I looked over at Calum's, the blue light from the telly being the only light in what I assumed was the living room. I was tempted to go ask Calum where Luke was, but I didn't think he would know anyway and I also didn't want to have to talk to that motherfucker. 

"Not home?" Michael asked.

"No. I don't know actually. He wouldn't answer my call and I didn't want to wake his family up if they were asleep," I told him. 

"Go check his bedroom window. See if his light is on," Sylvia suggested.

"No! Do you know how creepy that is?!" I protested. 

"It's not creepy unless if you make it creepy. Make it romantic then and throw rocks at it," she continued.

"Actually, the better thing would be to throw socks at it because if it breaks, then you're going to have to pay for that shit," Michael pointed out. 

"I'm not throwing rocks or looking into anyone's window! If he's busy, then he's busy. There's nothing I can do about it. I'll just talk to him tomorrow," I said flatly. 

"Suit yourself," Michael shrugged. 

Michael was never one to try and push me to do something, even if I wanted him to. He wasn't going to sit and try to fight me because he was just going to get sick of it and give up. I liked that about him, but at the same time, it was annoying. 

We drove back to the mall to drop Sylvia off at her car. It was mainly her and Michael who talked on the way there while I just sat and thought about what Luke could possibly be doing at this hour of the night. I knew I could just ask him in the morning, so it made me feel a little better. 

I wasn't scared that he was mad at me or that he was already cheating on me. He wasn't that type. I was just curious as to why he didn't come by when he said he would. Anyone would be curious at that. 

Or was I just being obsessive?

\----


	25. Chapter 24

[Luke's POV]

Hanging out with Calum wasn't so bad. He was actually a pretty fun guy. I was actually having a pretty fun time playing video games with him. Like, I actually laughed and it didn't feel like I was being forced to do it, so that's what made it fun. I didn't even know how long we had been playing, I just knew that Calum was getting his ass beat royally by me.

"I'm going to order that pizza your mum was talking about. What kind do you want?" I asked him after the game of FIFA ended. "What kind do you want?"

"Hmm...cheese with extra cheese," Calum said, causing us both to laugh.

I got up from the couch and went out to the kitchen to grab my phone off of the charger. It had been completely dead and I felt guilty because I didn't get the chance to tell Ashton that I wouldn't be going to be hanging out with him and Michael. It hadn't been that long since I had gotten here, so they should still be at work.

I unplugged my phone and pressed the top button to turn it back on. It took a minute, like iPhones usually do, and when it finally turned to the lock screen, my eyes widened. It was already 10:00 at night. Michael and Ashton had gotten off of work a long time ago and Ashton was probably thinking I stood him up. Which I did, but I didn't mean to.

Before I could unlock my phone and go to my messages to tell him that I was sorry, my phone started blowing up with missed texts and phone calls. The majority were from Ashton and there was a few from Michael. I felt so guilty. I didn't want Ashton to feel like I just wanted him to be my boyfriend just to say that I was in a relationship because that was so not true. I had true feelings for Ashton and I didn't want him to think otherwise.

I went to my text messages, seeing that the last one Ashton sent sounded like he was sad. He was apologizing for bothering me when I clearly didn't want to talk to him. I felt bad because I did want to talk to him. I felt like if I called him, he was going to be mad at me. I didn't think he was, but I didn't know. If he wasn't mad, then he was going to be sad. I didn't want him to be sad.

With a quick glance to see if Calum was still in the living room, I grabbed my phone and quickly went into the other room, clicking on Ashton's contact and called him. There was a few rings before I got an answer.

_"Hello?"_

"Ashton, I'm sorry," I apologized.

_"Why didn't you answer any of my calls or texts until now?"_ he asked, sounding just the slightest sad. It made me feel more guilty even though I didn't try to do anything.

"I was playing FIFA with Calum and I lost track of time and my phone was dead, so it was on the charger. I'm sorry, Ashton. I should've told you sooner or paid attention," I told him.

He didn't sound like he was too mad, but I had a habit of always thinking that the other person is pissed as all hell or disappointed in me when I screw up. Deep down, I know they aren't, but I just can't help it. I don't want to be looked at as a disappointment or unreliable or irresponsible to anyone.

_"Luke, it's fine. I'm not mad at you, so don't sound like I'm going to rip your head off. I was just worried, but I figured you were out,"_ Ashton said, chuckling softly. _"Why are you hanging out with Calum though? If you don't mind me asking. I thought you guys weren't friends...?"_

"We aren't. Well, I don't think so. I don't know. I'll tell you tomorrow, but it's actually not as painful as I thought. I didn't mean to ditch you though," I told him.

_"Stop apologizing, Lukey. It's fine. I'm just happy you're not dead in a ditch somewhere,"_ Ashton said, giggling. The nickname made my heart flutter.

"I better order pizza before Calum gets suspicious," I told him, not wanting to hang up.

_"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Night, Lukey,"_ Ashton said quietly.

"Goodnight, Ashy," I said, smiling and waited as he hung up and ended the call.

I went to turn around and go back into the kitchen, but nearly had a heart attack when I saw Calum standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. He quirked his eyebrow at me. "So, do you always tell the pizza man goodnight and give him a nickname or...?"

I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment. I couldn't tell Calum that Ashton was my boyfriend. He would bully the shit out of the two of us and I didn't want to put Ashton through that or go through it myself. Teenage jock homophobes can be brutal.

"Luke? Do you care to explain why I would also be suspicious?" he continued.

"Um, well, it's kind of stupid, but I always tell people goodnight or whatever when I order over the phone," I lied, hoping it wasn't obvious that I was.

"Really? You expect me to believe that? I know you weren't on the phone with the pizza guy. I'm pretty sure you were on the phone with someone named Ashy, which I'm also pretty sure is Ashton Irwin," Calum said. "So, what? Are you his boyfriend or butt buddy or something now?"

I would've answered yes if Calum wouldn't be such a dick about it. But I didn't trust him anyway, so even if he wasn't a dick about it, I still wouldn't have told him.

"No. We're just friends," I answered simply, hopefully not sounding too fake.

"And you call him Ashy and tell him goodnight?" Calum pressed, trying to get the truth out of me, but he wasn't going to succeed.

"Yeah. He's my best friend," I lied partially. Because Ashton is my best friend. And also happens to be my boyfriend.

"Luke, nobody calls their friends anymore," Calum pointed out.

"Well, we do sometimes," I told him.

"Whatever. Just call in the pizza," he said, rolling his eyes and walking out of the room.

Fucking homophobes.

\----


	26. Chapter 25

[Ashton's POV]

To say the least, I was relieved about Luke. There wasn't anything to be worried about, but still, I felt relief. The thing that did keep me thinking throughout the night was Calum though. I mean, I didn't think that they were friends since he said that they weren't, but why would he hangout with him over me, his boyfriend? I mean, I understand that I sounded selfish for saying it, but why would you hangout with someone that wasn't your friend instead of your boyfriend? It just didn't make sense to me. I wasn't going to be mad at him over it, I couldn't be because I trusted him. I figured that he had an explanation.

"Well, that's the longest you've ever been quiet. What's wrong?" Michael asked, turning onto Luke's street. 

"Nothing. Just thinking," I told him. 

"Thought I smelled something," Michael joked.

"Okay, fuck you," I said, hitting his arm. 

"Ew, no. I'm straight and you have Luke now," he laughed.

"Ew! No offense, but I wouldn't waste my virginity on you," I told him, laughing at the expression he had.

"Do you want to walk the rest of the way? I'll have you know that I'd be the best fuck you've ever had," he defended, as if he was going to lose his manhood by me saying that.

"I'll stick with Luke. Since, you know, he is my boyfriend and well, he's hotter than you," I smirked.

"That's it. You and Luke are walking. Get the fuck out of my car," Michael demanded. 

I just laughed, knowing that he was joking. Michael liked to act all dramatic and serious in these situations, but really, he was just goofing off. I used to actually think he was serious when he said things like that, which would cause me to be the butt of the joke and I didn't like that. 

We pulled up in front of Luke's house and waited. I looked at the front door, not being able to help but smile. I just really liked Luke and was always happy to see him, especially after yesterday. Within a few minutes, Luke walked out the front door, hurrying out to the car. His hair was flat under a beanie, which made my heart flutter. 

"Hey, Michael. Hey, babe," Luke said, awkwardly ruffling my hair and crawling into the backseat. 

"If you guys are going to get it on in my car, consider this the last ride you'll ever get," Michael warned. 

"Well, now that we know that, we'll only get it on when you're not in the car. Plus, how do you know we didn't yesterday when you let me borrow it?" I questioned with a smirk. 

Luke nearly lost it and I knew it was because Michael looked like he saw a ghost. I wanted to laugh, but I had to keep it together because I knew that I made Michael nervous. Honestly, he should know that I wouldn't do that, but Michael thought of his car as his baby, so he became a protective father over it. 

"You wouldn't," Michael gasped.

"I would," I responded and then winked. "I did."

Michael narrowed his eyes and glared at me. He didn't bother looking at Luke, who was still dying of hysterics in the back. It was then I lost my seriousness and laughed along with Luke because Michael had seriously gotten pissed off. It was mean of me as his best friend to do that, but it was just so fun to push his buttons that I wasn't sorry about it. 

"Asshole," Michael huffed. "We're not friends anymore."

"You said that last week," I chuckled. 

"And I meant it. I just acted like your friend because I felt sorry for your sorry ass," Michael scoffed. 

The ride to school was like always, just it was more Luke and I talking and flirting with each other because Michael was keeping up his 'I'm pissed at you' front, which was funny. Even if he didn't have that front up, I'm sure that the ride would be the same way because I really enjoy flirting with my boyfriend. I just really like him in general.

"You look so cute in your little beanie," I flirted, booping Luke's nose. 

He got a shy smile and his cheeks flushed slightly. "I'm only wearing it because my hair wouldn't cooperate."

"Well, I'm glad it didn't because I am happy for my eyes to be blessed with this new level of adorableness," I told him. 

"Okay, aren't I the one that's supposed to be making you blush?" Luke asked with red tinted cheeks.

"You can't have all the fun," I told him, getting a slight pout. 

"You guys are so cute, it makes me sick," Michael said fake gagging.

\----

We were sitting at lunch. Luke texted me and told me to go ahead to the lunch table and he would meet us there. I was kind of bummed because I wanted to walk with him, but I knew that he was with his teacher or whatever. 

Michael was already at the table, automatically raising his eyebrow when he saw that I was solo. I sat down without getting my lunch, figuring that I would go and get it with Luke. 

"Where's lover boy?" Michael asked.

"He's talking to a teacher or something and he told me that he would meet me here," I told him. 

"Typical of you to pick a hot nerd," Michael laughed.

"Shut up," I scoffed, blushing a little.

Michael and I sat there, waiting for Luke to come. He kept talking about how hot Sylvia was and that we should definitely hang out with her again even though she's a lesbian and has a girlfriend. That fact didn't seem to faze Michael. It made him want her more even though he has a snowball's chance in Hell with her. I just nodded along and pretended like I didn't think he was completely delusional for fantasizing about having a relationship with her.

My back was towards the entrance of the cafeteria, so Luke decided to take advantage of that and make me almost piss myself. I was just casually listening to Michael drone on and on about his fantasies when I felt someone wrap their arms around me lightly and whispered 'Hey, babe' in my ear in a creepy voice. 

"Dammit, Luke!" I said, jumping. Michael was dying of hysterics, of course. He finds joy in my pain.

"Did I scare you?" Luke chuckled.

"No, not at all. I just nearly piss myself and jump three meters for fun on a daily basis," I sassed.

"I'm sorry, babe," he apologized with a cute smile, taking a seat on the bench next to me. 

"I don't forgive you," I said with a 'hmmph'. 

"But Ashy, I lub you," Luke said, giving me his cute kitten eyes that I knew were going to be hard for me to resist.

"Ugh. You're too adorable to be mad at," I told him. I booped his nose, causing him to get a big toothy smile on his face, kind of like the emoji. 

"Gag," Michael said, making a fake gagging noise. 

"Shut up, Michael," both Luke and I said in unison. 

He just rolled his eyes and continued to pick at his disgusting lunch. Luke and I were flirting with each other, basically having an unspoken competition to see who would blush the most. We were both losing and Michael was pretending that we were making him sick but we both knew that he liked it. He was one who would say stuff like that just to be annoying, but he was secretly shipping the hell out of us and fanboying inside.

"So, why were you at Calum's last night?" Michael asked casually. For some reason, I tensed. I knew that Calum was straight as a bored and Luke didn't like him, but I just didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to keep being cute with him.

"Because I was being his babysitter basically," Luke told us with a chuckle. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to hold back a laugh. 

"He's grounded and his parents didn't trust him enough to leave him home alone, so they asked me if I could hangout with him for the night until they got back," he said. "My phone died, so I couldn't text you guys and tell you. I also kind of lost track of time, so I'm really sorry that I bailed on you, babe."

"Babe, don't apologize. It's okay," I told him with a smile and an awkward side hug.

But what I didn't notice was Calum glaring at Luke and I hugging.

\----


	27. Chapter 26

[Luke's POV] 

I was at my locker, getting my homework into my backpack. I waited for Ashton to meet me there since we were going to be walking back to Ashton's house instead of Michael driving us. Ashton and I had decided we wanted a little time alone since we got together and Michael understood, completely agreeing that we needed a little private time.

I set my chemistry book on top of the locker and positioned everything so it would fit. As I bent down to get my notebook from the bottom of the locker, someone gave me a slight kick in the butt, trying to knock me over. It sort of worked, but I didn't fall and instead wobbled. 

I stood up, expecting it to be Ashton, but I was instead faced with Calum. "Oh, hi, Calum."

"Hey, Luke," he said with a smile.

I noticed that he wasn't with his usual posse and that confused me a little, but I didn't think much of it. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to hangout at the mall with me? I can drive, it's not a huge deal," Calum asked.

"I thought you were grounded?" I asked.

"Well, I am, but they think that I'm staying after school to get extra help on my homework," Calum told me, rolling his eyes. "So, what do you say? You game?" 

"Well, actually, I can't. Ashton and I ar-" I started, but he cut me off.

"He can come too!" Calum said, a bit more excited than I would expect him to be. I quirked my eyebrow at him because last time I checked, the two had a mutual hate for each other.

"Um, I don't know if he would really want to do that," I said, trying not to sound rude. I saw Calum's happy expression fall and immediately, I felt bad. "Let me talk to him? Maybe he'll be do-"

"Um, hi, Luke. Calum," Ashton said, walking over. He looked as if he was holding back a glare as he looked at Calum. "Are you ready, Luke?"

"Well, I actually had something to ask you," I started, getting hopeful eyes from Calum. I didn't know why he wanted to start hanging out with me all of a sudden. 

"Um, okay? What?" he asked, furrowing his brow at me.

"Calum wanted to know if we wanted to hangout with him at the mall? Just for a little bit," I offered with a tight smile. I knew that he didn't want to hangout with Calum because Ashton didn't like him. But I knew that Calum wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Um, but I thought that we were going to go to my place...?" Ashton asked. I knew that he didn't want to be rude, even though he hated Calum. Ashton just wasn't a fan of being rude to anyone except Michael, but even that was out of love. 

I looked at Calum and saw hope in his eyes as he looked at me, literally pleading me to convince Ashton with his eyes. "We can afterwards if you still want to."

Ashton looked at me, his eyes slightly narrowing at me. I knew that he didn't want to spend what was supposed to be our alone time with Calum. I just gave him a look, hoping he'd understand that I would explain to him later. 

"How long do you plan on staying out? I have to tell my mum if we're going to be there for dinner," Ashton huffed. I glanced at Calum, who rolled his eyes. I slightly glared at him, but he didn't notice.

"Um, maybe an hour or so? Is that okay, Calum?" I asked him. 

Calum nodded quickly. "Yeah, that's perfectly fine. I can bring you guys home too." 

"Okay, thanks," I said with a small smile. 

"I have to hit the toilets before we go anywhere," Ashton grumbled, giving me a look. He started walking towards the bathroom and I hesitated. 

"I should probably go too. Wait here," I smiled, hurrying after my boyfriend. 

Ashton was standing against the tile wall, his arms crossed and he looked incredibly sexy. He glanced up at me, his eyes slightly narrowed. "I thought it was supposed to be just us today?"

"I know, and I'm so-" I started.

"I thought you weren't friends with him," Ashton stated. He was very obviously miffed at me for making him hang out with someone that he couldn't stand.

"I'm not really. But he put me on the spot, Ash. I couldn't tell him no," I told him, hoping that he would understand. 

"Yes, you could have. It's not that hard to say no. It's two damn letters," Ashton scoffed. 

I gave him kitten eyes, knowing that he couldn't resist him. "Can we still go to your house? Spend the night together?" 

"Why? You might want to hang out with your new best friend," Ashton snapped, trying to stay mad at me.

"He's not my best friend and I'd much rather be with my beautiful and amazing boyfriend because I lub him more than anything," I told him, resting my chin on his shoulder, trying to make him look at me. "I lub you, Ashy poo."

Finally, Ashton cracked a smile and then looked over at me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You need to stop being so cute." 

"Never," I said, pecking his soft lips. 

\----

We were walking around the mall, heading to Spencer's. Ashton and Calum barely acknowledged each other the whole time, only Calum insulting Ashton when they did talk to each other. Calum mainly talked to me, barely giving me a chance to talk to Ashton and it made me feel bad because I knew that Ashton felt like a third wheel and that wasn't right. I'm not saying that any of us should feel like a third wheel, but if one of us should be, it should be Calum because Ashton is my boyfriend. 

"Do you want to go anywhere after this, Ash?" I asked him when Calum stopped rambling about the football team. 

"No, I'll go where you guys go," he said, sounding a bit miffed. I frowned, feeling like a terrible boyfriend for putting him in this situation. 

We walked into the store, the three of us sticking together throughout. We walked towards the back, joking about the sudden sex toys and merchandise that was on the shelves. It was the uncomfortable laughter that made it slightly less awkward. 

"Hey, Ashton, need some lube? You know, for you and your butt buddy later," Calum bullied, picking up a bottle of strawberry flavored lube. I didn't laugh and fought the urge to punch Calum in the face, but Ashton didn't hold back.

"You know, that's actually a good idea. Actually just ran out and you know me, I'm a horny motherfucker, so thank you very much for finding that, Calum," Ashton said sarcastically, yanking the bottle out of the tan boy's hand. Ashton eyed it. "Strawberry? Mmmm, my favorite."

Calum just looked at him awestruck at what Ashton did, as was I. Neither of us expected him to be so sassy and bold. I had to fight the urge to applaud him because I was proud that he stood up to Calum after all the bullying Calum has put him through. 

"Can we go home now? I've had enough of this damn mall," Ashton asked, sounding pissed. 

He led us to the counter, paying for the bottle of lube, acting like it was nothing to be buying something used for sex, almost as if he was sticking it to Calum. Calum stayed quiet on the way out to his car, probably feeling embarrassed after Ashton stood up to him. Ashton looked like a confident badass, which was hot as hell in my opinion. It was a different side to him and I liked seeing it because it made me feel some type of way.

"Um, where do you live, Ashton?" Calum asked quietly as he backed out of the parking spot. 

Ashton told him the address and Calum made me put it in his phone's GPS. It was funny since it wasn't that far from where Calum and I lived, at least according to Ashton, but he probably didn't want to get lost and have to be stuck in the car with Ashton any longer than he had to because he was embarrassed. 

The car ride was rather silent. It was the awkward silence too. I glanced in the side mirror at Ashton, seeing him sitting back there with a slight pout on his face, which was the Ashton I knew. I knew that he was probably mad at me for making him do that and I didn't really blame him. 

"Thanks, Calum. It was, erm, fun," I told him once Calum pulled in front of Ashton's house. He just nodded, giving a small wave. 

Ashton was already halfway up his driveway by the time I closed the door to Calum's car. I've never seen him necessarily mad, and I wasn't looking forward to being on the receiving end. 

"Ashton, wait," I called after him, but he was already going into his house.

He just ignored me and I sighed. I was hoping that his mum wasn't home because then I would have to meet her awkwardly since Ashton was pissed. I walked into the house, hearing someone in the kitchen. Hesitantly, I walked in, seeing Ashton angrily grabbing crisps and M&M's. 

"You want something to drink? Maybe to go along with the lube you'll be having later?" Ashton snapped, looking at me with angry eyes. 

"Ash, I'm sorry that I made you do that," I apologized once again.

"You know I hate him and you know that he bullies me. If you thought it was going to go any different than it did, you are very messed up in the head," Ashton said. 

"I understand if you're mad at me, but I told you before we left that he put me on the spot. I'm sorry that I did that to you but please, don't be mad. I won't ever do this kind of thing to you again, I promise," I told him, hoping that he would hear me out.

"Yes, I'm mad! I'm mad that you told me that you weren't friends with him when it's so obvious you are. I'm also pretty pissed that you made me feel like a third fucking wheel. Also, I'm mad that you made me 'hangout' with the guy who's bullied me for my entire fucking life," Ashton insulted.

I looked at him with sad eyes. "Ash, I'm sorry. I thought he actually wanted to hangout with both of us. He even said he did. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever. You need to wake up and see through him," Ashton scoffed. "Pick up your lip. My mum's going to be home with my siblings in a few minutes."

\-----


	28. Chapter 27

[Ashton's POV]

Honestly, I actually was kind of angry with Luke. I knew it was childish, but he had promised me that it was just going to be us after school, that we were going to have alone time. But no, he had to go and make plans for us to hang out with Calum when he knew damn well that neither of us had the time of day for each other. Not only was it that, but it was because he actually thought that Calum wanted to try and be 'friends' with me. I understood that he hasn't been here all that long and didn't know Calum and mine's history all that well, but Luke knew enough that Calum was a two faced asshole. At least, I thought he did.

I knew that Luke was sincere in his apology, but I was just upset with the fact that he was blinded by the act that Calum pulled just to hang out with Luke. I didn't even understand why he wanted to, especially since I was involved. If he was ever doing anything that I was involved in, it usually ended with me being bullied.

"Ashton?" Luke asked, his voice small. I looked towards him with a blank look. "Please don't be mad at me."

"I guess the word is more disappointed," I told him plainly.

Before he could say anymore, the front door opened and in walked my mum and siblings. I told her that Luke was going to be coming over tonight, but I didn't exactly say when, so the look on her face was priceless when she saw him sitting on the couch. I was just hoping that she wouldn't embarrass me like she usually did.

"Hello, Ashton. Hello...unnamed handsome friend of Ashton," she greeted, looking between Luke and I. "Ashton, do you care to tell me who this stranger sitting on our couch is?"

"Mum, this is Luke Hemmings. Luke, this is my mum," I introduced, hoping that she wouldn't flood him with questions or oogle over him like he was some type of zoo animal.

"Oh! You're Luke! Ashton's told me a little about you! Please, call me Anne," she smiled, rushing over and shaking Luke's hand.

"Hi, Anne," he greeted, a slight blush on his face.

"I'm glad to know that Ashton has finally decided to crawl out of his room and actually socialize with people," she told Luke. And here's the beginning of many embarrassing things she'll say. "Did you meet in school or was it one of the rare times Ash decided to go out in public?"

"Yeah, actually, I met him at Hot Topic one day when I first moved here," Luke said with a small chuckle, looking at me with slightly sad eyes.

"See? Aren't you glad I made you get that job?" she said, giving me a playful yet hard slap on the arm.

"You didn't make me, mum. Michael offered it or whatever," I told her, grumbling.

"Whatever you say, my dear," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to make a delectable dinner and you two go do your homework or whatever it is you boys do on your free time."

"Okay, we'll be in my room," I told her, grabbing Luke's hand and started dragging him towards the staircase.

"In that case, no sexual activities on the poor boy, Ashton!" she called after us, making me blush slightly. I hadn't told her that we were even dating yet.

"Ash, can we talk?" Luke asked.

"We just talked before my mum came home. There's nothing more that needs to be said right now," I told him simply.

"I apologized to you, Ashton. I was stupid, I get it. What more do I need to say? I don't want you to be mad at me, babe. We just started dating and I don't want us to be in a fight already," Luke pleaded.

I just shrugged. I knew I was acting like a child, but I didn't expect Luke to be blind to it and I didn't want to just brush it under the rug so he would think it was okay to do it again. "You aren't going to do that again, are you? If Calum wasn't such an asshole, I wouldn't have cared as much. But considering our history, I can't. I don't want you to get involved with him, Luke. He's a conceited, two-faced douche bag that is only using you for popularity. I don't want you hurt, babe."

"I know. I understand that he and you don't get along and I was stupid for making you hangout with him. I should have kept the plans as is," Luke apologized, repeating what he had been ever since Calum dropped us off. "Can you not be angry at me anymore?" 

"Just...don't hang out with him? I don't want to be that controlling boyfriend who tells you who to hang out with, but he's just not a good guy and I don't want you in his trap," I told him.

"Okay. I won't. I'll only hang out with him when our parents make me," Luke clarified with a small smile. 

There was an awkward silence, neither of us really knowing what to do. Sure, we've kissed each other before, but it just didn't feel like the right time to do it. I was still new to the boyfriend thing. I don't know what people do after they have a petty argument like this other than have sex or something, but I knew that neither of us were necessarily ready to do that. 

"So, does your mum know about us?" Luke suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence. It was still awkward, but hey, now there was conversation.

"No...she knows of you, but not about us being together," I told him sheepishly. I was kind of embarrassed to tell him that I hadn't even told my mum about us yet. It wasn't that I was embarrassed of Luke because there was absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. I just knew that she would lose her shit and I wanted Luke to meet her before she knew so he knew that she wasn't completely crazy. 

"Does she know you're gay?" he wondered.

"Yeah. It doesn't bother her at all. She's actually glad I am because she's always wanted a gay son, I guess," I told him with a small chuckle. "Have you told your parents about us?" 

He was quiet for a minute. I looked over at him to see that he was looking down at his black Converse. "No."

"Do they know that you're gay?" I asked, figuring that's why he got so quiet. 

He shook his head. "I think if they knew, I would no longer be considered their favorite son or whatever. They would feel like they failed as parents and they wouldn't love me, you know?" 

I frowned at what he was telling me and gave him an awkward side hug. "I don't think that would happen because you're impossible not to love." 

"I'm just...I'm not really ready to yet," Luke said quietly. 

"I'm not going to pressure you. When you're ready to tell them, you're ready," I told him softly. 

He looked over at me, his blue eyes soft. Our mouths were only centimeters apart, his breath tickling my nose. Not being able to resist him any longer, I latched my mouth onto his. He was caught off guard at first, but then he began to kiss back. Neither of us wanted to let go, so we ended up falling back onto my bed, Luke underneath me. 

Luke wasn't shy at all, his hands roaming around my body and going underneath the waistband of my jeans. I didn't expect him to be so touchy, but I wasn't about to complain. I was so into it that I didn't hear my door open.

"Ashton!" 

\----


	29. Chapter 28

[Ashton's POV]

Luckily, but at the same time, unluckily, it was only my little sister Lauren instead of my mum. It would have been a lot worse if it were to be, especially since she didn't know that Luke and I were even dating. She would go off the deep end and accuse me of rape or something to be dramatic.

"What are you doing?!" Lauren asked, a horrified expression on her face.

"Um, I lost-" Luke started.

"Don't bother. She may be young, but she's a smart cookie," I told Luke, causing him to blush. "We were obviously wrestling."

Luke snorted and Lauren rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "I didn't know kissing was included in wrestling now."

"It is in the kind of wrestling we were doing," I told her with a smirk.

Her jaw dropped. "Isn't he straight?!"

"As a circle," I snorted. "He's my boyfriend and yes, we were making out. Don't tell mum though. We're going to tell her after dinner."

"You're lucky that you're my favorite brother," she scoffed, rolling her eyes again. "Go back to...inhaling each other since I forgot what I needed from you."

Lauren left the room and Luke and I stayed quiet in the same position we were in. After a second, both Luke and I broke out into laughter for no reason really. He latched his lips back onto mine and we continued where we left off.

\----

"Oh, dearest son and his friend! Dinner is ready! If you don't get your buns down here, Harry might inhale it!" my mum yelled up the stairs.

"Ugh, this is why I never brought you here before," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Why?" Luke chuckled.

"Because we would never be left alone," I laughed.

"That's okay. It makes us appreciate it more," he said with a wink.

"You are so cute," I said, giving him one last peck on the lips before I got off his lap.

The two of us went down to the dinner table, Lauren and Harry seated across from where Luke and I were supposed to sit. Lauren raised her eyebrows at me, assuming the worst because, well, she is my sister and my mother's daughter. I just glared and grimaced at her, denying her thoughts.

"I thought you would never come down!" my mum said as she walked into the room with a plate of breadsticks on a plate. She turned to Luke. "I was beginning to think that my dear gay son over there was going to try and convert you."

Luke blushed and looked at me with a sheepish smile. If only she knew.

"Well, are you going to eat standing up? Sit down and dig in!" she told us.

Luke and I sat down and both of us grabbed for the spatula to pick up a piece of the homemade Hawaiian pizza. Luke's hand grabbed onto mine, but he quickly removed it, remembering that my mum was clueless to our relationship. Both of us looked at each other, his cheeks tinted a light pink. I shoveled a piece onto my plate and then onto his, passing the spatula to Lauren.

"Mum, can you give us the breadsticks?" I asked.

"Very well mannered, I see," she said, rolling her eyes as she gave me the plate of breadsticks.

"Thank you, mum," I said with an amused smile.

It was an unusual awkward silence and the only sounds filling the room were the clinking of silverware against the plates and my siblings bickering over something meaningless.

"So, Luke, how come I haven't seen you around before?" my mum started asking.

"Um, well, I'm not really sure," Luke said, giving me a look. "I was beginning to actually believe Ashton lived in a box."

"Ashton!" my mum said, giving me a stern look.

"Dammit, Luke," I said, chuckling.

"So, what do you do for fun? Are you employed?" she questioned.

"Well, I'm really into playing guitar and artsy kind of things. As far as jobs go, I'm not employed yet," he answered.

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or is there anyone in mind? I might be able to help you since Ashton's about as straight as rubber band," she offered.

Luke chuckled and blushed, glancing at me. "Well, I am taken, actually. But thanks for the offer."

Both Luke and I tried our hardest to hold back our laughter, knowing that she was completely oblivious to the fact that we literally made out just twenty minutes ago.

"Boys, what's so funny?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Oh, nothing, mumsy. I got the giggles," I told her, causing the oblivious woman to roll her eyes.

"Why did I give birth to such a weird boy?" she asked herself and then turned back to Luke. "Anyway, what's your girlfriend's name?"

"Um, Ashley," he said, doing a better job at composing himself.

"Cute name. I was actually going to name Ashton that if he wouldn't have had something between-"

"Mum!" both Harry and Lauren yelled, stopping her.

"What? I'm not being gross," she said. "So, where is she from? Your hometown?"

"No, um, she's actually from here," he said, shooting me a smile.

"Really? What's her last name? I know quite a few of the girls and their mothers in your boys' year," she asked.

"Um, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't know her, mum," I told her quickly.

"Try me. I'm not a hermit like you think, Ashton," she said.

I looked at Luke, gulping and hoping that he had something to save our asses, even if we were going to be telling her later on.

"Actually, it's funny because her last name is Irwin," he said with a shy smile. I looked back at Luke with wide eyes.

"Irwin? Really? I didn't know ther - wait. Are you and Ashton...?" she questioned, putting the pieces together. None of us said anything and her jaw dropped. "Ashton Fletcher, why didn't you tell me that you finally had a boyfriend?!"

I looked back at Luke, narrowing my eyes at him. "I was supposed to."

"I'm sorry, Ashy," Luke apologized.

"And you even have pet names! My heart!" my mum fangirled, making me feel embarrassed of her already.

"You want to know why they wouldn't come downstairs right away, mum?" Lauren asked, giving me an evil look.

"Really, Ashton? Flaunting your wonderful gayness in front of your siblings?! I told you that they aren't allowed to watch porn until they were sixteen!" she scolded.

"Oh my god. This is why I don't have friends."

\----


	30. Chapter 29

[Luke's POV]

I walked into my house at about eight that night. Luckily, I didn't have any homework because I was too tired to even want to try and attempt it anyway. I knew that I had told my parents that I would be home earlier than I was, but I didn't think that they would be too mad because they knew exactly where I was and they were happy that I had friends.

There wasn't any activity in the front part of my house, so I decided to just go down to my room so I wouldn't have to awkwardly walk into the room and have to explain everything that happened because, frankly, I didn't want to tell them because that stuff should stay sacred between my boyfriend and I.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here."

I squeezed my eyes shut and then turned around to be faced with my mum, crossing her arms and glaring at me. I gave her a sheepish smile and wave, hoping that I could be adorable enough to get out of any trouble I was in.

"Hi, mummy," I said sweetly, hoping that she wasn't mad.

"Hello, Luke. I thought you were supposed to be home at six-thirty?" she asked. She looked down at her bracelet watch. How convenient, mother. "It's eight. That's a bit later than six-thirty, don't you think?"

I nodded slowly and looked down embarrassed. "I'm sorry, mum. Dinner ran a li-"

"Dinner? I mean, I assumed you ate but it sounds like you had a feast."

"It wasn't necessarily a feast, but yeah, I had dinner with his family and she kept asking me questions," I told her, hoping she wouldn't put two-and-two together that it was a boyfriend-meets-the-mum kind of dinner.

"You're just meeting Ashton's mother and you've known him for how long now?" she asked quizzically, actually sounding disappointed.

"It isn't that big of deal, mum. You've met Ashton and Michael once and it was only for five minutes," I told her, hoping that it would calm her.

"That doesn't matter, Luke. For one, you lied to me and said that you were most likely going to be at the mall or at Michael's. And two, you were late and you didn't tell me. You couldn't even spare a few minutes to send me a text to tell me?" she scolded. "I was worried about you, Luke."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that you would be too mad and you could've called or something. I honestly lost track of the time," I told her.

"Don't give me attitude, Luke. It's not my job to call you if you're late. You told me that you would be home at a certain time and I expected you to be here. You're the one that should have called," she continued lecturing. "I don't like punishing you, Luke, but I want you to go down to your room and go straight to bed. I'll be down to check on you in a few minute."

I just rolled my eyes. She was overreacting and I figured that it was because she hasn't gotten to have a family dinner and she was jealous. Yeah, I understood that I should've texted her and told her that I was going to be late, but I told her that I had lost track of time. She didn't have to fly off of the deep end. It was my first time being late like this anyway. It's not like I would purposely do it again. 

I went down to my room, setting my school bag in the corner where I usually did and stripped down to my boxers and put on my t-shirt and shorts. I quickly texted Ashton, telling him that I wasn't going to be able to text him for the rest of the night because I knew that my mum would most likely take my phone upstairs. It's what she used to do to my brothers, so if she didn't, I would be surprised. 

I got into my bed, cuddling into my blankets and quickly scrolled through Facebook, seeing all the unnecessary and unwanted bullshit drama that people posted from my old school. Honestly, I didn't miss them at all. I don't even know why I was still Facebook friends with half of them.

"Good, I'm glad you're listening again," my mum said as she came down the stairs. She extended her hand. "Give me your phone. You don't need to be on that for the rest of the night."

"What? You don't trust me now?" I asked.

"It's a consequence, Luke. When you don't do as you're told, you get those," she spat. 

"At least plug it in," I grumbled, giving her the cord. 

"If I hear any racket from down here, you're not getting your phone back tomorrow and you're on lock down for 24 hours, got it?" she said sternly. I had a feeling that she was such a bitch because it was that time of the month. 

"Whatever."

"Goodnight," she said and then went up the stairs, making sure to shut the light off. 

I just laid there, not even remotely tired. Who does she think she's kidding? I'm not going to be tired at eight. I'm a teenager who stays up until at least eleven before I'm sleepy. It aggravated me because I could either just lay there and stare up at the boring popcorn ceiling, wishing that I had my phone so I could text Ashton until I fell asleep or I could try to force myself to sleep, even though I didn't think that it would go over very well. 

\----

"Do I need to take you to school and then pick you up?" my mum asked. 

"Really? Where am I going to go? I barely know my way around here," I told her.

"I want you to be home directly after school. No ifs, ans, or buts," she demanded and then handed me my phone. "This damn thing also continued buzzing last night. You might want to tell your friends that they need to go to sleep at a reasonable hour."

I took it from her and clicked on the iPhone, seeing that there was a ton of messages from Michael from throughout the night, asking me random questions. I took it as he couldn't sleep and I just chuckled a little bit. I opened my messages and then saw that there was a response from Ashton, saying goodnight with a sad face and the two pink hearts next to it. It made me smile, just knowing that he missed me. I was glad that he wasn't still mad at me over Calum. I was stupid for even thinking that Calum would act like a normal person and treat him with respect. 

I figured that I would just sit out on the steps and wait for Michael and Ashton instead of sitting inside. It looked like a nice morning out anyway. I took my seat on the porch, putting my bag next to me and then just scrolled through Tumblr. Yes, I had a Tumblr because I was cool and that was basically a prerequisite for my quote-y and inspirational musical self. I was weird. 

"Hey! Luke!" 

I looked over to where the shouting was coming from, seeing that it was Calum. I mentally groaned, remembering all that Ashton had said about him. I still didn't know their past, but I didn't think that I really wanted to either.

"Hey, Calum," I called to him as he started walking over. 

"Do you want a ride? I have room," Calum offered.

"Um, no. I actually am waiting for my ride," I told him, even though I found it weird that he would even offer me. He never did before and I had even been apart of his exclusive posse when I first moved here.

"Oh, come on. I don't want you to have to ride the bus. It's seriously social suicide and it smells like feet," he pleaded. 

"No, actually Michael Clifford's picking me up," I told him.

"That's still social suicide and smells like feet," he grimaced. 

"Just because you don't like them, doesn't mean that I'm not going to," I told him. 

He rolled his eyes. "I wish you could understand that they're not the type of people you think they are. They're putting a mask on for you and you're going to wish you would've never talked to them when they get comfortable."

I snorted. "Believe me, they're comfortable with me and I'm comfortable with them. They're completely normal guys like you and I. I'm not saying you have to like them or talk to them or anything, just have a little more respect and not insult them in front of me."

As if on cue, Michael's rolled up in front of my house. Calum just looked, just rolling his eyes and shaking his head. I knew that if I was really close to Calum and actually wanted to try and force all of them to get along, it wouldn't happen. Calum was a stubborn douche bag jock that had his mind made up about my best friend and boyfriend and I wasn't going to put in the extra work to try and change it. 

"Whatever. Have fun with the faggots," Calum scoffed and then walked back to his house. 

He sounded almost jealous.

\----


	31. Chapter 30

[Luke's POV]

I wanted to take Ashton on a date. Not out to a restaurant or anything, but like a picnic or something. It was so cliche, but I just wanted to have a romantic and cheesy date with him since he seemed to like that type of thing. I mean, I wasn't too for cheesiness, but it made Ashton get all cute, so I could certainly live with it. I just didn't know what I wanted to do yet. 

I went to Ashton's locker, planning on asking him if he'd want to anyway. Maybe he wouldn't be free this week to do anything. He didn't see me coming, so I snuck up on him and put my hands over his eyes. 

"Give me all your money," I said in a deep voice. 

"Jesus, Luke. You're supposed to be romantic," Ashton chuckled, turning around and giving me a quick kiss. "What's up?"

"Are you at all busy this week?" I asked, biting my lip. 

"Um, not tomorrow or Friday. Why?" he asked sweetly. 

"Would you like to accompany me this Friday night on a date?" I asked him.

"Well, sure. Where are we going?" he asked. 

"That's for me to know and you to find out," I smirked. 

"You suck," Ashton chuckled.

"I'll have you know that I also swallow," I winked. 

"I'm leaving now," Ashton said, his face turning bright red as he kissed my cheek and turned to start walking to his next class. 

I just laughed and shook my head, loving how adorable he was. I turned to go back to my locker to get my folder, not really worried about getting to my class since it was only a free period. I would just be in the art or music room anyway. 

I quickly shut my locker and started going towards the arts wing of the school. I knew that Boyfriend Appreciation Day was coming up in a few weeks because of the pointless holidays app I have on my phone (don't judge) and I wanted to make something nice for Ashton because, well, I've never had someone to care about and spoil before, so I wanted to do that to Ashton. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't know what day it was when I would give it to him. It's not a national or very well known holiday. But I wanted to find whatever excuse I could to give him gifts and to just spoil him extra good. 

I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into something. I looked up, ready to apologize, but mentally cried when I saw that it was Calum.

"Sorry, mate," I said with a half smile, not really wanting to talk to him after what he said about Ashton and Michael this morning. 

"No problem. Where are you off to? It's not like you to be late to class," Calum smirked. He was right, it wasn't. But how did he know? It's not like he knew me. 

"I have a free period. I was going to the music room. Shouldn't you be in class?" I asked, hoping that he would be a good student for once and decide that he should get to it before he got in trouble. 

"Eh, it doesn't matter if I skip it. It's not too important anyway," he shrugged, making me cringe.

"What class is it?" I asked out of curiosity, expecting him to say a less relevant and extremely easy class like health.

"Pre-calc," he shrugged. 

"Um, isn't that hard to get caught up in and don't you need to pass it in order to be on the soccer team?" I asked. Not that it shocked me that he didn't think it was important. Calum didn't strike me as the type of guy who thought that school was in any way important and was only there for girls, sports, and the social life. 

"Don't act like I'm a complete idiot, Hemmings. I may not look like the brightest, but I'm passing with a C. Plus, if I need to catch up on something, I have connections," he said. 

I didn't even want him to go into any detail about his connections because it made me somewhat ill that he thinks that it's an okay thing to just skip out on something regularly that's going to help him graduate and get into uni. Excuse me for being old fashioned, but I take school seriously. 

"Well, I'm going to get going to the music room. Have fun skipping," I said awkwardly and walked away. I felt different about Calum. He's changed since I was forced to hangout with him and I really don't know why. He just seemed even more shady.

\----

I was in the music room, writing lyrics to a song and playing around on the keyboard to try and get the tune of it down. I was writing it for Ashton and it was actually harder than I thought. I couldn't make it sappy but I couldn't make it boring.

"With me, you got nothing to fear," I sang with a slower tempo on the keys. I cringed, not liking it. 

"I didn't know you could sing."

I turned around, my face flushing, to see Calum standing in the doorway. What the hell does this guy want from me?

"Yeah, I guess. I'm not that amazing, but it's whatever," I responded, turning back to the keyboard and continued messing around with the keys, trying to find something that I liked. 

"You're pretty good," Calum said, walking into the room farther. "What are you doing?"

"Writing a song," I responded. 

"Can I hear it?" he asked.

"It's still a work in progress," I told him. 

"So, you write and make music to songs?" he wondered.

"Well, not a lot. I usually just play songs by my favorite bands and artists, but I wanted to write a song for someone," I shrugged and then realized what I said and knew that Calum would be nosy as fuck.

"Oh, really? Who's this one about?" he asked. 

"Um, well, nobody in particular," I shrugged.

"Oh, really? Because you just told me that you came in here to write a song for someone," Calum pointed out with a quirked eyebrow.

"It's nobody you would know," I said, because it's true. Calum doesn't necessarily know Ashton.

"Okay, fine. Be that way," he said with a smirk. "Do you mind if I hang out in here while you tinker around? I have nothing else to do."

I mentally groaned. I couldn't write a song about Ashton with this ass wipe in here. He would keep questioning it if I wrote something romantic and he would get all up in my grill and honestly, I wasn't in the mood for it. But me being the dumbass nice person I am, I gave in.

"Yeah, totally fine."

\----


	32. Chapter 31

[Luke's POV]

The final bell had rang and Calum and I walked out of the music room. I didn't get much more written for the song and instead just tinkered around with the keyboard to figure out the tempo and whatnot, which I still hadn't. For me, I have to be completely alone in order to write a song and compose music. The only time I can do that with people around is when I'm extremely comfortable. There's only four people in that circle and that's my family. 

I tried my best to get away from Calum because I didn't want Ashton to think that I was lying to him about us not being friends because I really wasn't. The only reason I would give Calum the time of day was because I wanted to stay on his good side. I knew that he had the power to make my life a living Hell and I really didn't want that added drama. 

"What are you doing tonight?" Calum asked as we both went to our lockers and dialed in our combinations. 

"Probably just hanging out in my room and doing homework," I shrugged, getting the folders I needed and shoved them into my backpack.

"Do you want to come over and play FIFA maybe?" Calum asked. 

"I don't know. My parents have dinner plans with my brothers," I lied. They really didn't. I just wanted to be able to plan my date with Ashton and write the song. 

"Oh, okay. Well, if you can get away, don't hesitate to stop over," he said and then a few members of his posse showed up, which was a cue that our conversation was ended. 

I shut my locker and went out the other way of the locker aisle because Calum's posse had clogged the main entrance. I didn't see Ashton at his locker, which was weird, so I decided to find Michael, who was getting his leather jacket on. 

"Hey, Mikey," I greeted with a smile. 

"Well, greetings, Hemmings. Where is my other best friend? It's weird not to see you attached at the hip," Michael asked. 

"I actually came over to ask you the same thing," I chuckled.

"Oh, really? I'm only good for the location of your damn boyfriend? And to think I just called you my best friend," Michael said, shaking his head. "Fuck that shit."

"Michael, you know I love you just as much as Ashton...just a bit less because, well, you know, he's my boyfriend," I chuckled awkwardly. 

"Yeah, mhm, sure. Save it, asshole," Michael said with a straight face and then he broke out into a fit of hysterics when I most likely looked like I was about to cry. 

"What?" I asked, confused as to what was so funny. 

"You should've seen the look on your face. You actually took me seriously?! Dude, you should know that I'm not a serious guy," Michael laughed. 

"Well, you were pretty convincing," I shrugged, blushing in a bit of embarrassment. 

"You know, acting is one of my better skills," he said, now calm as he brushed the invisible dust off his shoulder to make himself look like he was King Shit. 

"Why aren't you the star in the school play then?" I asked with a smirk, knowing that the play was Wicked and the main characters were two women. 

"Because I have a dick," he said bluntly. "Besides, look at me. I'm not a drama club type of guy. I'm punk and hardcore."

"Well, on that note, Mr. Hardcore, I'm going to go find my boyfriend," I told him, about to turn on my heel. "Was he getting a ride from you?" 

"No. He didn't know if he was going to have to stay after school for some stupid test or something," Michael told me. "He'd be in Correlli's room."

I gave him a thumbs up and then turned on my heels to go to Correlli's room all the way up on the second floor. I knew that I was just being dramatic by mentally groaning about having to go up the stairs, but I just wasn't an athletic or exercise type of fellow. Therefore, I had a hate-hate relationship with stairs. 

The school was pretty much cleared out, except for a few stragglers that I didn't know the names of. I walked with my head down, glancing at the designs in the tiled floor when I ran into someone and papers went flying out of the other person's hands. 

"Jesus."

"Ashton!" 

Ashton's eyes snapped up to me and he started to laugh. I bent down to help my boyfriend pick up his schoolwork, both of us chuckling at how oblivious we were to one another. 

"I was just going to come find you," I told him, straightening the small stack of papers. 

"Well, I was hoping to God that you were still here and Michael didn't influence you to bail like he always does," Ashton said with a laugh. 

It was then I noticed that there was something different about him and I instantly smiled. "I didn't know that you had glasses."

Ashton looked at me after putting all of the papers back into his folder. His cheeks turned pink and he got an embarrassed smile on his face. "Oh, um, yeah. I do."

"When did you get those?" I asked, feeling blessed that he decided to wear those because he was adorable yet hot as hell with them. 

"A long time ago. I don't wear them a lot though," he said, averting his eyes. "I don't like how I look in them."

"Why not? You're, like, adorableness and sexiness all in one," I told him with a small. "Not that you already aren't because you are. Just even more so-" 

Ashton blushed and then leaned over, giving me a quick kiss on the lips to shut me up. "You need to stop rambling so much."

"Well, if you're going to shut me up that way, I'll ramble more often," I said with a smirk. 

The two of us got up and we went to Ashton's locker to get his homework that he had. I was planning on walking him home since he didn't live too terribly far from me. I would've offered for him to come over, but I wanted to work on the song plus date and he probably worked tonight anyway. 

It felt like we were the last two to leave the entire school, minus the staff, but I didn't mind it. It felt good to actually be the only two people around. They could freely kiss and hug and do couple things; not that they did other than that small kiss Ashton gave Luke to shut him up. But it felt nice to have that freedom if they wanted to. 

We walked halfway down the path that led to the main sidewalk when Ashton entwined our fingers tightly. I looked over at him with a smile, happy that I was holding his warm and large hand in my slightly smaller one. 

It occurred to me that we hadn't walked home or necessarily been alone like this since the night we got together, mainly because I ruined our initial plans last time. I automatically regretted agreeing to Calum's plans that day because this was a million times better. Being alone with Ashton was the best thing in the world to me. 

"So, what is your plans for this date?" Ashton asked. 

"That's for me to know and you to find out," I smirked. 

"Well, that's not very fair. How do I know that you're not going to kill me then? What do I tell my mother? She'll call the FBI if I don't come back," Ashton said, trying to get me to spill information that I hadn't yet figured out. 

"Really? Do I look like I'd kill you? I'm about as strong as a noodle. I couldn't hold you down long enough if I tried," I chuckled. "Plus, you surprised me with our first date, so it's my turn to surprise you." 

"Fucking surprises," Ashton grumbled. "Can I have hint though?" 

"No."

He pulled a puppy dog look on me and I had to try with all of being not to give into it. "Pwetty pwease?" 

"You can try to make me give in all you want, but it isn't going to work, bug," I told him, clicking my tongue.

"Bug?" Ashton asked, smiling and blushing at the nickname. 

"Yeah. It just kind of fits," I shrugged with a small smile. 

\----

Ashton had ended up working, so I didn't feel that guilty about not inviting him over. I spent all night downstairs, working and writing the song. I had finally figured out what kind of sound I wanted it to have, but not exact. It was still progress though.

"We trace our steps to the great unknown..." I sang, playing the tune I had spent forever trying to come up with. 

"Whatchya doing?" 

I nearly jumped, almost falling off of the bench. I was milliseconds from having a coronary, thinking that it was Ashton and that he heard the song, but it was just Michael, mocking him. I grabbed my heart in relief and he walked down the stairs the rest of the way with a smirk on his face. 

"Jesus, Clifford. You gave me a heart attack. I thought you were Ashton," I told him, picking up the song that had floated down to the floor. 

"Told you acting was my specialty," Michael shrugged, sitting on my bed. 

"What are you doing here anyway? Didn't you have to work tonight?" I asked. 

"No. Just Ashton," he said and then looked at the piano. "I was serious though; what are you doing?"

"Oh, um, just composing a song," I told him nonchalantly.

"Really? What is this song about?" he asked. 

"Oh...um...nothing," I told him, feeling kind of embarrassed because I was being a sap and writing a song for my boyfriend. 

"It's about Ashton, isn't it?" he asked with a playful smirk. I didn't answer and felt my cheeks heat up. "It is! Can I hear it?" 

"No. Not yet," I said quickly. 

"Aw, why not?" he asked, putting on a pout.

"Because I haven't gotten the right music for it yet and I haven't finished it," I told him. 

"Grr..." he growled. 

"It's not that good anyway," I laughed. 

"Bullshit. Most songwriters say that and it's always bullshit. It's probably amazing. Do you need a guitar player?" he asked, so obviously wanting to hear the song.

"No, I was going to, but thanks," I told him and then it got silent for a few minutes. 

"You said you didn't have the music for it yet, right?" he asked. 

"Not really. I have something that I like, but I want to change it a little bit but I don't know how to," I told him truthfully. 

"Can I help you with it?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I guess." 

"Play me the chords you want it to sound like," he instructed, getting up and handing me my guitar.

I propped myself up onto the stool and began playing what I had came up with. Michael was bobbing his head along, analyzing it and I could see the gears turning in his head. When I was finished, I looked at him and he was staring at the guitar with pursed lips and squinted eyes, obviously thinking.


	33. Chapter 32

[Ashton's POV]

Luke and Michael had been rather chatty and close for the past few days. It didn't bother me all that much because they were friends like Michael and I were, but it bothered me because it's like they were keeping something from me. They just acted suspicious and I didn't like it. Since I was working tonight, I was planning on asking Michael. 

Except the problem was that I would have to wait until the crowd cleared out and I would have a chance to talk to him. But fate seemed to go against me because more and more people kept coming in. I mean, not that I complained because more costumers gave me something to do and I made some commission. But being that I was trying to think of what Luke could be hiding from me, I couldn't do my job to its full potential. 

"Where can I find Bring Me The Horizon merch?" 

I turned and saw Calum standing there. I nearly grimaced when I saw him, just like he did, but I decided that it was better to be the polite employee by plastering a fake smile on. "That depends on what kind you're looking for."

"I told you that I was looking for Bring Me The Horizon," he said again, very obviously being short with me. 

"I meant like type of merch. Are you looking for a tee, sweater, wristband, CD, button, album, sticker, patch, jewelry?" I simplified. 

"Oh, um, a wristband and shirt, I guess," he said.

"Well, the shirts you can find on the wall and there might be some scattered in the clearance. The wristbands are over by the other jewelry. They're not in alphabetical order, so you might have to dig for them," I told him. 

I turned around to go back to fixing up the wall, but just as I was about to begin working again, my shoulder was grabbed and I was forced back around to be faced with Calum yet again. His grip was strong, so there was no way I could get away. And sadly, I was in the hidden corner of the store, so Michael couldn't see this happening. 

"What the hell, Calum? I told you where the shit was," I told him, confused as to why the asshole was pinning me in a threatening manner. 

"I could give a shit less. I came here to tell you to leave Luke alone. Stay the fuck away from him and me," he spat, literally all up in my face.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Do you actually think that someone popular and attractive would actually want to hangout with you and period blood over there? No. He doesn't. So, leave us alone. Give up whatever gay fantasies you have about him because they will never happen and you will never speak to him again, got it?" he clarified. "If you do, I'll fucking ruin you."

"What the hell? I'll have you know that he doesn't like you or your minions one bit, so I can tell you that you are full of shit. I also don't have any gay fantasies about him either because he's already made them come true," I spat but then realized what I had said. 

Calum's eyes narrowed and his mouth was pressed in a straight line. "Luke isn't a faggot and even if he was, he wouldn't go for someone as ugly and worthless as you."

With that, Calum let me loose and left the store. I was so confused as to why the hell that even happened. Luke and Calum had only hung out once after he had met Michael and I, so it seemed that Calum was getting a little possessive of my boyfriend or something. It still didn't make sense to me why I was just threatened though. If Luke was actually what Calum said, he should grow a pair of balls and come tell me that himself. But I didn't have any worries. 

I walked back up to the checkout counter, seeing that Michael was pricing a few items for return. He looked up at me, his green eyes filled with exhaustion and boredom. "What's up, Ash?"

"Did you happen to see what Calum was doing to me just now?" I asked him. 

He quirked his eyebrow. "Um, no? I didn't even know he was in the store. We need to ban fuckers like him. Anyway, what did he do?"

"He came up with some bullshit excuse and told me that I needed to stay away from Luke because he was popular and some other shit. He also threatened to ruin me if I kept talking to him," I told him. 

"Seriously? What a loser. Luke told me today that he can't stand Calum's ass. What a pathetic loser. Don't let it bother you, Ash. Luke wouldn't abandon you for that dick weed," Michael said. 

"Speaking of, is there something you want to tell me?" I asked casually, going behind the counter in case a costumer came along. 

"What? No. Why?" he answered. I frowned, actually somewhat expecting him to admit it. 

"What about Luke?" I asked.

"No. He's fine. Why? What's wrong?" he asked, continuing to act like the behavior that they had had never happened. 

"Nothing's wrong. I just feel like you and him are hiding something from me. I don't like how that feels, so if you would be so kind as to tell me what it is, I would really appreciate it," I told him, trying to keep calm.

"Ash, I'm not hiding anything from you. You're my best friend; I couldn't hide something from you even if I tried. I can't speak for Luke, but I'm pretty sure that he's not keeping anything from you either. Why are you thinking that we're hiding something?" Michael asked, looking slightly offended that I accused him.

"Because you and Luke are closer than you were before and when I come around, it's like I interrupted something and you quit talking about it. Are you talking about me?" I asked.

"We've been growing closer as friends, yes. But you're not interrupting anything. And if we do talk about you, it's nothing but good. Luke's so whipped with you," Michael said with a small chuckle. 

I felt a small smile grow on my face to know that Luke was whipped about me of all people. I've never had a boyfriend before and this kind of made me feel like I was important and I actually meant something to someone. 

\-----

After work, Michael had let me borrow his car since Sylvia now worked at the pretzel stand and could give him a ride, so I quickly texted Luke and told him that I was going to be at his place in a few minutes because I wanted to see him and I wanted to tell him about Calum. The problem was that he told me that I wasn't allowed to come over for ten minutes. He didn't give me an explanation, just told me that I could come over at 9:20. That wasn't like Luke. He usually was ecstatic when I said I was coming over and he never delayed it like he was now. 

I took the long way to his house, taking different roads to his place. He hadn't responded to my text asking him if everything was okay. I had assumed that he was having a conversation with his parents or something important like that, but how would he have a time limit like that? 

At two minutes to, I pulled into Luke's driveway, seeing that only his porch lights were on and the basement light. So he couldn't have been arguing or talking to his parents like I had theorized. I tried not to think anything of it as I put my car and park and got out. I looked over to Calum's, seeing that the front porch light was on. I was hoping that he couldn't see that I was here because I really wasn't in the mood to get a beating. 

I walked up to the door, sending Luke a text that I was there so I didn't have to ring the doorbell in case his parents were asleep. I stood there for a minute before the door opened, revealing a slightly breathless and a rather disheveled Luke. 

"Hey, babe," he greeted, slightly panting as he pecked my lips. 

"Hey. Why are you so breathless?" I asked with a smirk, trying not to make it seem like I was actually curious.

"Just cleaning up my room for you," he shrugged. "Want to come in? Hang out for a while, maybe kiss a little bit, cuddle some?" 

The cute little smirk on his face was enough to make me come in from the brisk air. I followed him down to his room, feeling the warmth from the furnace as I descended down the stairs. His room didn't look much different since the last time I had seen it, so I found it a little hard to believe that's why he was panting. But I wasn't going to jump to conclusions because that was stupid and I didn't want to lose him. 

"So...our date is tomorrow night," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind him, kissing his cheek softly. 

"That it is," he said. "Are you excited, babe?" 

"Absolutely. I love spending time with you, Lukey," I told him, a smile on my face. 

"Aw, you're so adorable," he said, turning around and placing his lips on mine. 

The kiss was a little more lustful than the other ones we've had and I can't say that I complained. He was just slightly more forceful with me, pushing me back to his bed. He lowered the both of us down on top of the neatly made queen size bed and laid on top of me, his tongue tracing my bottom lip. This was our first make out session and it wasn't at all disappointing.

I actually almost forgot the reason I came here, but realized that Calum wasn't important, especially right now. 

\-----


	34. Chapter 33

[Luke's POV]

I walked out to the mailbox, a smile on my face. Everything was seeming to be going great. There wasn't any drama, Ashton and I were happy, and I had an amazing date with my boyfriend that my best friend helped me with. My life was finally going swimmingly.

I was whistling after I grabbed the envelopes out of the tin box, but I had to quit mid-tune because someone was calling my name. It, of course, was Calum.

"Hey, Luke!" he asked, waving over at me.

"Hey, Calum," I answered, walking to the edge of my driveway to have a small conversation with him. But no, he had to cross the property line.

"What's up?" he asked, as if I was getting ready to go to the Yukon Territory instead of school.

"Just getting ready for school. I imagine that you are too," I said, shrugging awkwardly.

"I am. Hey, do you want me to give you a ride today?" he asked, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

"Nah, Michael and Ashton are picking me up," I answered yet again. It seems he forgets that they pick me up everyday.

"Still riding with those homos? No pun intended," Calum snorted.

It angered me that he was so against them and started to pull gay jokes on them, even though 2/3 of us were gay. It wasn't cool and it was rather insulting. "They're not homos, they're people. But yes, they've been my ride basically everyday since I started here."

"You need to get away from them. They're not good for you or your reputation. I'm also sick of jumping to your defense when everyone asks if you're gay," Calum commanded, rolling his eyes.

I'll have you know that I am, for one, gay, so you can go suck a dick, is what I wanted to say, but I didn't. I wanted to actually punch him in his tiny balls.

"Well, then quit defending me," I shrugged.

"What? Doesn't it bother you that people are assuming that? It's offensive, if you ask me," he said, quirking his eyebrow.

"If people want to think that I'm gay, then let them. If I don't talk to them, I don't much give a shit. Their opinions mean as much to me as the American presidential election," I told him, causing him to give me a look of even more disbelief.

"Well, alright then," he said. "I'll see you around. Have fun with the fags."

I didn't even bother correcting him and just rolled my eyes. It was no use because he would just continue to do it because he was kind of an asshole. After he was gone inside of his own house, I went back into mine, setting the mail down on the counter. I looked at the oven clock, seeing that it was about ten minutes until Ashton and Michael were to come.

\----

"So, are you ready for tonight?" Michael asked as the two of us walked down the hall to the math wing.

"I'm nervous, to be completely honest with you," I admitted.

"Why so nervous? Ashton's going to love it. He's going to love the song, he's going to love the date, he's going to love you," Michael reassured. I gave him a small smile, but he just rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I'm getting so sappy. Especially over you two nerds."

"Deep down, you know that we're your OTP," I told him, using one of the new terms I heard some girls in my choir class using when talking about Connor Franta and Troye Sivan.

"OTP? What the fuck is that? On the piss? What the hell?" Michael asked, very clearly confused by my use of fangirl terms.

"It means one true pairing," I told him. "It's when you want two people to be together."

"Where on God's green earth did you learn that?" he asked.

"There were these three fangirls in my choir class using it. They teach me a lot of new terms that I as a male shouldn't know," I told him, feeling slightly ashamed, but at the same time, not.

"I'm starting to worry about you," Michael said before we parted ways. "I'll meet you here after class and then we can hitch a ride over to the venue of tonight's events, yeah?"

"Sounds good," I clarified, giving him a thumbs up and went into the neighboring classroom.

The entire class period, I couldn't focus or concentrate on math at all. My mind was focused solely on Ashton and what was going to happen tonight. Thankfully, it was just a review day and we weren't learning anything new, so I wasn't losing anything by not paying attention. Just an extra review day about things I've already learned and had down to a T.

My desk partner, Jadyn, had figured something was up. She didn't really like me, so she didn't press the matter any. I think it was because I was naturally good at math and she wasn't. The only reason I knew that was because I always got a glimpse of her grade when the teacher would hand the tests back. I felt for her, but she wouldn't accept my help when I offered, so it's technically her own fault for failing.

When class was over, I was the first one out the door. I stood on the other side of the wall, waiting for Michael to emerge from the next room. My heart was racing, mainly from how fast I exited the room, but it was also because I was excited and nervous for the date. I knew that everything had to be set up just perfect for the date to be perfect. I didn't realize that I was so OCD about things.

Michael came out of the room, looking like he had just woken up, which it wouldn't surprise me if he did. Knowing him and how much he hates school, he probably slept the whole day away.

"I would ask why you're panting, but that's none of my business," he smirked. "You ready?"

"Yes," I said.

We began walking to our locker bay and I got to thinking about how Ashton was going to get home if we weren't giving him a ride. Surely he wouldn't walk home, would he? I felt kind of bad if he was because I was the one who would keep him company. Those were our walks; they were meant to be taken together, not alone.

"What did you tell Ashton to keep us from giving him a ride?" I asked curiously.

"I had a dentist appointment," Michael shrugged.

I nodded. I guess that's believable.

We went our separate ways to get to our lockers and get our dreaded homework for the weekend. I saw Ashton out of the corner of my eye, his hair looking so fluffy and I just wanted to hug and kiss him, preferably like the little make out session we had last night.

After I closed my locker, I thought that I should at least tell him goodbye. So, I put my bag on my back and went over to him, wrapping my arms around his smaller frame.

"Hey, Ashy," I said in his ear.

"Hey, Lukey," he purred, pressing on awkward kiss to the side of my cheek. He turned around, looking adorable as ever. "I'm excited for tonight."

"Me too. I think you're going to love it," I told him, not being able to help but smile. "I'll pick you up around 6:30?"

"Sounds good," he said, his eyes twinkling.

I gave him one last kiss before he said he had to get out to his mum's car. I turned to go find Michael, hoping he wasn't talking to whoever he had been when I went to Ashton's locker.

"Hey, Luke."

I mentally groaned when I realized who it was. Turning around, I was greeted with none other than Calum Hood.

"Hi, Calum," I said, forcing a smile.

"You busy tonight? At say, 6:30?" Calum asked.

Oh, how coincidental, I thought.

"Actually, yes. Why?" I asked, curious as to what he wanted from me.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to this real-life race car video game thing with me and some of the boys," he offered, a glimmer of hope still in his eyes.

"Sounds fun, but I really can't," I declined.

"Trust me, this is way better than hanging out with those faggots," he said, trying to convince me, but he was only pissing me off.

"I said no, Calum. And they are not faggots! It's offensive that you even use that word," I told him with a glare and then stalked off to find Michael.

\----


	35. Chapter 34

[Luke's POV]

Everything was all set up for the date tonight. I was anxious, but Michael was trying to do his best at calming me down. I just couldn't help it though. I wanted everything to be just perfect for Ashton because it's what he deserved. 

"Lucas, calm your ass down. Ash is going to love it and it looks great. Nothing is going to go wrong," Michael said, placing both of his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye.

"Are you just saying that?" I asked, feeling so much doubt as I looked at the scene we had set up. 

"I only speak the truth, young Hemmings," Michael told me. "Come on. Let's get you back home and dressed or some shit. I don't think Ashton would appreciate if you wore a sweatshirt and basketball shorts and smell like a pig barn," he said with a smirk. 

I didn't have to worry about anyone bothering the setup since Michael had gotten permission from his uncle to use the locked park in his neighborhood that nobody used, so I didn't have any doubts that it would get harmed. Michael and I walked out of the park, Michael locking the gate to the place behind us. 

I got into the passenger side of his car and we went on our way back to my house. Michael was talking or singing - I wasn't sure - but I just drowned him out anyway, thinking of how the date was going to go and what I was going to wear and the scenarios of what could happen. 

We pulled into my driveway and as I went to open the door, I noticed that Michael didn't even unlock it. I looked over at him, seeing that he was looking at me with a quirked eyebrow. 

"Did you even listen to anything I said?" he asked, a smirk playing at his lips. 

"Um...yeah?" I said, coming out as more of a question than a statement. 

"Yeah, well, what was I talking about?" he quizzed, clearly finding this amusing. 

"Ashton...?" I guessed, my voice going up an octave. 

"Not unless he joined All Time Low," Michael scoffed. "You are so whipped, it makes my stomach churn."

He then unlocked the door and the two of us got out. I was hoping that my mum wouldn't be home because I really wasn't in the mood to talk to her or have her gush over Michael. It was going to be weird enough having to lie to her again and tell her that I was taking a girl out or something for the night when she saw me leave. I didn't want to have to pack on more than I already had to. 

That was the one thing that I didn't like about mine and Ashton's relationship. We had to keep it a secret and couldn't act like anything more than friends when my parents or Calum was around. I didn't want to keep it hidden because I just loved Ashton so much. I knew that he understood since I haven't had the courage to come out yet, but I still felt like I was disappointing him some way. In the back of my mind, I knew that he was going to eventually lose patience and that would be the end of us. All because I couldn't find the balls to tell my family about the boy I loved with every ounce of my heart. 

Thankfully, my mum didn't hear us come in and we went straight to the basement. Michael plotted his ass on my bed and I went into my bathroom, turning on the shower. It felt kind of odd to be taking a shower knowing that my best friend was just outside the door, but it wasn't like he was going to see me naked. That sight is for Ashton's eyes only. 

"I'm going to shower. If you want, you can play my guitars and stuff. I'll probably be only, like, ten minutes," I told him. 

"Alright. If you're not out in twenty, I will only assume I know what you're doing," Michael smirked. 

I grabbed my brush from my dresser and I saw the case that held the CD with the song I wrote Ashton on. Just the sight of it made my stomach tie in knots with nerves. I tore my eyes away from it and went into the bathroom.

\----

As I got out of the shower, I could hear Michael playing a My Chemical Romance song and singing to it. His voice was seeming to calm my nerves about the date and instead of getting awkward about it, I thanked the lord that he was down here. Before I went out, I slipped my black boxer-briefs on and then my black fuzzy robe over it. Granted, it would be awkward since I was going to be so exposed in front of Michael, but it had to be done. I knew Michael wouldn't care because, well, he's Michael.

I picked my towel off the floor and hung it on the shower rod once I was covered. I opened the door, the cooler air giving my damp body chills. Michael wasn't fazed as I walked out and he kept strumming the song. Awkwardly, I walked over to my closet, opening it and trying to think of something that was hot yet romantic, but I couldn't find anything that fit those two categories by just looking at the mostly black, white, and grey contents. 

"Sexy. I think Ashton would like that look on you," Michael said out of nowhere. I was so concentrated I didn't even realized that he quite playing the song. 

"Ha, very funny," I said, rolling my eyes. 

"That's for tomorrow morning though, am I right?" he teased. I turned around and narrowed my eyes at him, but it didn't come out very intimidating since I was blushing like a little schoolgirl. 

"Shut your mouth and help me," I scoffed. 

Michael set the guitar back on the stand and came next to me and started sifting through my clothes, pulling out a black button up shirt right away. He held it up, admiring it, and then shoved it at me. 

"Here. Put this on with your black skinnies and then I have the perfect shoes for you," Michael said and then grimaced. "Jesus Christ, I sound like a girl." 

He went back over to the guitar and I went back into the bathroom after I grabbed my skinny jeans from my drawer. I hung it up on the back of the bathroom door, admiring it and approving of Michael's outfit choice. I put it on, not liking how it looked with my hair down, but I was going to fix it later anyway. But I did like how it looked otherwise. It was classy. 

I walked out of the still warm bathroom and Michael looked up, but he scrunched his face in disgust. "You're such a prude, Hemmings."

"What? What do you mean? I put it on like you said," I told him, looking down at the long black sleeves that were long enough to give me slight paws. 

Michael got up again and came over to me. He unbuttoned the top four buttons so my chest was sticking out just slightly and then he folded down my collar. Next, he grabbed my right arm and began to roll my sleeve until it was just above my elbow and did the same to the other one. He stepped back and looked at me again, nodding with his finger on his chin like he was thinking. He stepped forward, unbuttoning another button to make me more exposed and then smiled in approval of his work.

"Now Ashton will get stone hard just looking at you," he said. 

"Um, okay. That's good," I said, unsure of how to respond to that. "I just feel...exposed."

"Lucas, it's considered sexy to girls if you show a little chest hair - or lack of - because it makes them want to rip your shirt off. Ashton's pretty similar to a girl when it comes to this kind of shit, so now he will rip your shirt off and beg for you to fuck him," Michael explained, looking up and down at the outfit. "You do top, right?" 

"What? I don't know. We...I...we haven't done anything like that!" I told him, feeling embarrassed. 

"Alright, alright. I just didn't want to offend you, Jesus," Michael said, putting up his hands in surrender. "Come on. Let's get the shoes from my house."

"Do we have time?" I asked. 

"Yes. We have an hour and a half," Michael said, grabbing my hand and drug me upstairs. 

\----

"You want me to wear these?" I asked, looking down at the black leather no-lace boots on my feet. 

"No, Luke. I want you to put them on your hands," Michael sassed.

I narrowed my eyes at him and looked back down at the shoes. They weren't really my favorite, but at the same time, they looked cool. I looked in the full length mirror that was in the corner of my room. The actually looked pretty kick ass with the clothes I was wearing. They looked a hell of a lot better than my black Converse that I had planned on wearing. 

"So, did we make that trip to my house for nothing or do you like them?" he asked. 

"I think they'll work," I told him. 

He smiled in approval. "Alright, now I'm going to fix your head since you look like a wannabe hipster. Sit on the stool."

I went over and sat on the stool by my guitars as Michael went into the bathroom to get my hair gel and brush. He came out, setting it on top of the acoustic drum and looked at me. Frankly, I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared of him touching my hair considering that he has it in a pretty hardcore style and has it dyed the color of a cartoon dog. But I wasn't going to offend him and I was just going to sit there and hope for the best. 

I could tell that he wasn't doing my usual quiff which was making me nervous to say the least. I didn't know if I was going to be able to work whatever he was doing. I wanted to look perfect for Ashton and if I couldn't work this, I would curl up in a ball and cry. 

It didn't take long until he was done with me and judging by the look on his face, he liked it. I gulped, anxious to see what he did to me. 

"Alright, go take a look," he said with a smile. "I have to say that's some of my best work with hair gel."

I went over to the mirror, closing my eyes and then opened them, my jaw nearly dropping to the floor. He had made my hair so it was like off of my face like a quiff, but it was just gelled so it was like a side quiff type thing. It was hard to explain, but I liked it nonetheless. 

"I also would suggest that you keep from shaving. Ashton will love it," Michael said. 

I brought my hand up, feeling my slight shadow that was growing. I had forgot to shave this morning, but I'm not regretting it one bit because I felt pretty hot looking like this. My lip ring, my new hairstyle, clothes...I felt like a sexy beast if anything. 

"Michael, you are like God," I told him.

"I try," he smirked. 

"Seriously, I look pretty fit. A lot better than if I went with what I had in mind," I admitted.

"You would look like a nun if you went with what you were going to wear," he snorted. "No offense to the covenant. They're nice ladies that make some bitchin' pie."

I just laughed. "So...what time is it?"

"By the time you get your cologne or aftershave or perfume or whatever the fuck, you'll be ready to pick up Ashton. I'll let you borrow my car if you want," he suggested. 

As much as I hated Michael's car as far as date transportation, it was my only option other than asking my mum for hers and I didn't want her to drill me with questions about it. So, I just nodded in agreement and went over to my dresser to put on my aftershave. 

After I had dabbed enough on and turned all my lights off and grabbed the CD, Michael and I went upstairs. Much to my luck, my mum was in the kitchen. I mentally groaned, not wanting her to be there. She looked up at the two of us and smiled.

"Hello, Michael. And hello, handsome," she said when she looked at me. "Where are you off to that you dressed up?"

"Um, I, um-"

"He has a date tonight," Michael blurted. I looked over to him, giving him a warning look.

"A date? How come I've never heard about this until now?" she asked. 

"I don't know. It's only our first date, so..." I told her, not sure of what to say.

"Yeah? What's her name?" mum wondered. 

"Ashley. She's a friend of mine," Michael said. "So, I was nice and was helping him get ready since our young Lucas doesn't go out with women much."

"That's nice of you, Michael. What about Ashton? Did he have to work?" she asked.

"Yeah. He wanted to help, but Pete scheduled him because one of coworkers called in," Michael lied smoothly. It made me wonder if he did this kind of thing often. 

"Well, you have fun, Luke. Don't do anything too...wild. I don't think I have to worry, but just remember to wrap it before you tap it," she said. 

"Mum!" I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. 

We went out to the car and Michael let me drive him so I could get a handle on the car so I didn't get Ashton into an accident or anything. He was happy because that meant that he could play around with the radio and sing as tone deaf or as amazing as he wanted, which as I said before, was very calming. It made me relax quite a bit.

I looked in the rear view mirror, seeing a black car behind me. It didn't make me too nervous, but it did because I didn't like when people followed me as close as this one did. I hadn't drove too much because I didn't have my own car obviously, so some things still got me nervous. 

I pulled in front of Michael's house, the car whizzing past us. I looked over at Michael, who was getting his MCR CD out of the 6 disc player and putting it in the case. When he noticed me looking at him, he lightly patted my face.

"You're going to be fine. Ashton's going to love it. Nothing bad is going to happen," Michael said with a smile.

"Thanks for helping with it. I don't think I could've done it alone to be honest," I said. 

"You're welcome. I wouldn't have helped if I didn't want you guys to be together. In Ashton's words, you two are my...OT..P. Yeah, OTP," he said.

"Thanks again, Michael," I said, slightly chuckling at his cheesy comment. 

He went to close the door, but then leaned back down in the car and dangled the key to the park in my face. "You might need this."

I grabbed it from him and set it in the empty cup holder. He then closed the door and I made sure that he got in before I left. I turned the radio up a little bit, All Time Low softly filling the now quiet and empty car. I looked down at the clock, seeing that it was 6:24 and I had six or so minutes until I had to pick up Ashton, so I started to make my way to his house. 

I turned on the next street that would lead to the main road and saw the car that had been behind me parked alongside the road. It was parked outside of a fairly nice house and it looked classy. I felt like I had seen it before, but that was probably because there was a million others just like it on the road. 

Ashton's wasn't too far from Michael's surprisingly. I got there right at 6:30 and mentally gave myself a pat on the back for being there right on time for once. It was a rare occurrence to be honest. 

I took a deep breath and walked up to Ashton's front door, ringing the doorbell. I stood with my hands clasped together behind my back as I waited for someone to open the door. It took about five minutes (or what felt like it) until I was greeted with Mrs. Irwin. 

"Hello, Luke. You look rather handsome tonight. Come in," she said, letting me into the house.

"Thanks, Mrs. Irwin," I said, trying not to sound awkward.

"Lucas, I told you to call me Anne," she said.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Anne," I smiled, feeling my cheeks blush a little bit. 

"Ashton's up in his room primping. He said that he'd be down in a few, but that was an hour ago. The boy's worse than a girl, I swear. No wonder he's gay," she said, rolling her eyes dramatically. 

As if on cue, Ashton came bounding down the stairs in a black long sleeved shirt that gave him paws and black skinny jeans. It was such a simple outfit, but it looked so beautiful on him. I loved it. When Ashton looked up and saw me, his eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks.

"Luke...y-you look amazing," he stammered.

"Thanks. You do too," I told him as I walked closer to him. 

We met each other halfway and I grabbed his hand to lead him to the vehicle, but Anne stopped us. "You boys have fun, but don't have too much fun. Luke, don't make it so my gay baby won't be able to walk for weeks. Also, use protection because Ashton might be one of those hybrid boys that can get pregnant and I don't want gay grandbabies just yet."

"Oh my god, mother. If you keep talking like that, you will never have gay grandbabies!" Ashton told her in embarrassment. 

"I'm just making sure that Luke understands. You do understand, my gay future son-in-law?" she asked. 

"Yes, Anne. I'll take good care of him," I reassured her, trying not to chuckle at her comments. 

"Alright. Enjoy yourselves and invest in contraceptives," she said as we left. 

I led him to the passenger side door, opening it up for him. But as he went to lower himself into the car, I leaned forward and kissed him. When I broke away, his cheeks were flushed and he had a cute little smile on his face. I closed it once he was in and then rushed over to the driver's side. Once I was in, I looked over at my beautiful boyfriend. 

"Welcome to car a la Clifford," I told him, chuckling. 

"Gee, I thought I've seen this car before," Ashton joked. "It seems to be the vehicle that brought us together. I'm going to call it the Love Mobile instead of Bertha." 

"I agree. Mikey's been outnumbered here," I said to Ashton as we drove on our way to the park. 

The ride to the park seemed longer with Ashton than it had been with Michael. Not that I was complaining, but I kept feeling more and more nervous the slower the time went by. It was actually a rather quiet ride too, which meant that I was stuck with my thoughts and nerves for most of the ride. 

I came to the stoplight about five blocks from where the park was. I stopped and looked around a little bit. My eyes landed on the black BMW diagonally from us and it looked just like the one that I had seen earlier. It was one of those that things where I notice something once and I see it everywhere. It happened to me every single time. 

"Are you going to tell me where we're going or am I left in the unknown?" Ashton asked with a playful smirk, thankfully interrupting my thoughts. 

"If I told you where we were going, it would ruin the surprise. We wouldn't want that, now would we?" I teased, knowing that Ashton's not a huge fan of teasing. 

"You can ruin the surprise all you want. No problem at all for me. I'll just pretend like I never knew when we get there," he said, trying his best to convince me to tell him. 

"As tempting as that is, I enjoy watching you suffer in suspense," I joked. "Don't worry, you're going to like it. Hopefully."

"I'm sure I'll love it, Lukey. As long as I'm with you, a garbage dump would be paradise," he said, making me blush. 

We had finally gotten there and I pulled into the empty parking lot next to the fence. Thankfully, it was getting darker out and the trees inside the park made it darker than it already was so the candles were no doubt going to show up wonderfully. 

"Luke, this is a locked park. We can't get in here," Ashton pointed out. 

"And that's why we have this," I told him, grabbing the key from the cup holder and dangled it in front of him. 

"How did you get the key, Luke?! You don't live around here. You didn't steal it, did you? Plea-" Ashton spazzed.

"Ash, babe, do me a favor and shut up," I smirked. "I didn't steal anything. It's Michael's uncle's and he gave me permission to use it."

"Oh. Okay. Good, because I don't know if I'd want to continue this date if you were a thief," Ashton said. 

I frowned. "I guess I should take you back home then."

"What? Why?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow. 

"Because I stole your heart, didn't I? That's being a thief," I told him, causing a smile to form on his face. 

"That's the one of the few exceptions," he said, chuckling slightly as his cheeks tinted pink. 

I got out of the car and rushed around to his side to let him out. Once he was out, he leaned up to kiss me on the cheek, which was actually rather adorable and I liked it quite a bit. "Go wait for me by the fence. I have to get something." 

Ashton went towards the black gate and waited. I went into the backseat and grabbed the CD off of the floor. I pushed it under the waistband of my jeans along with a black bandanna and hurried over to the gate after locking the car. 

"What did you get?" he asked. 

"For me to know and you to find out," I said with a smirk.

"Oh, kinky," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

I unlocked the gate, giving him a quick kiss as I grabbed his hand. "I need to cover your eyes, Mr. Irwin."

"You're not going to drug me and then chain me up to kill me, are you? Because that's not what I meant when I said kinky," he joked. 

"Hmm...tempting," I joked, turning him around and tying the bandanna around his eyes. "Can you see anything?"

"Nope. So you could technically throw a rock at me and I wouldn't see it coming. It would make for a good Youtube video," he laughed. 

"It would, but I would rather not give my boyfriend brain trauma," I chuckled. 

"How sweet of you." 

I turned him back around and grabbed his hand, reassuring him multiple times that I would make sure that he wouldn't trip or get hurt or anything. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for putting the white Christmas tree lights on a timer so I could actually find where everything was. 

When we got close enough I stopped both myself and Ashton. I nervously smiled, hoping to the high heavens that he would like the setup and everything.

"Are we there? Luke?" he asked, still holding my hand. 

I let go and went behind him to untie the bandanna. I held it once it was untied and leaned forward. "Are you ready?"

"Definitely."

I let go of the blindfold and stepped next to him. "I hope you're in the mood to watch movies and cuddle." 

"Luke...it's...beautiful," he said, looking at the scene in awe. 

I took the lighter that I put on the little stereo and went around lighting the 10 candles I had scattered around so the movie screen (mum's white bed sheets) were more visible. Once they were all lit, I looked back up at Ashton, seeing his eyes were wide and a smile on his face. 

"You did this all for me?" he asked quietly. 

"Well, I don't know who else I would do this for," I smiled. "Come sit on this lovely mattress chair thing with me." 

Ashton did exactly that, instantly cuddling up by me. It was obvious that he loved it and that made me happy and all of my worries went away.

"Why is your guitar here?" he asked, looking behind me at my acoustic guitar. 

"Because I have something that I want to show you," I told him. 

I crawled off the mattress thing and grabbed the guitar off of the stand, strumming it a few times to see if it was in tune. I looked up at Ashton, seeing that he was sitting Indian style with a cute smile on his face, just anticipating what I was going to play for him. 

"I hope you like it," I told him and then began strumming the chords.

\----

_"So let's run away._

_They will have to find another heart to break._

_Why don't we just run away?_

_Never turn around, no matter what they say._

_We'll find our way._

_When the sun goes down_

_On this town,_

_There'll be no one left but us._

_Just like runaways,_

_They will have to find some other hearts to break, hearts to break,_ " I finished. 

I looked up at Ashton, seeing that he had tears in his eyes and he was smiling from ear to ear. I set the guitar down and crawled over to him and sat Indian style across from him.

"That was beautiful, Luke. That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," he said, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. 

"Don't cry, bug," I whispered, grabbing his hands and leaned forward kissing him softly. 

The kiss was more passionate and loving than the other ones that we had. I knew that we hadn't been together very long, but I felt so much love towards him that it was literally fighting tooth and nail to get out. When we broke apart, only centimeters from each other, I looked into his wet hazel eyes. 

"I love you, Ashton," I said, not knowing how he was going to react.

"I l-love you too, Luke," he stammered, more tears falling down his cheeks. 

"Please stop crying, Ash. It makes me feel bad," I told him with a small smile. 

"But there tears of happiness and appreciation," he said with a small laugh. "Don't feel bad; feel happy because I don't cry very much."

"As long as you're happy, I'll be happy," I told him with a small kiss. "Oh, and this is also for you."

I grabbed the CD out of my waistband and handed it to him. He looked down at it, reading "Runaways (l.h) - I love you, Ash" and more tears fell from his eyes. He looked back up at me and kissed me again. I couldn't help but chuckle because of how adorable he was acting throughout the entire date. 

"Do you want to cuddle and watch some movies now?" I asked him. 

"Sure. What do you have? I'm hoping that it isn't horror being we're in the dark outdoors," he said with a chuckle. 

"Oh, believe me, I thought that through thoroughly. I actually have sappy romance ones like - " I reached over and grabbed the pile of DVDs that I had brought. "Failure to Launch, 50 First Dates, The Fault In Our Stars, Pretty Woman, and When Harry Met Sally."

"Hmm...is Failure to Launch the one with Matthew McConaughey in it?" he asked. I responded with a nod. "Let's watch that one first."

\----

We were cuddled under the blanket, about halfway through the movie. I had thought Ashton was nearly asleep considering he was laying in a sleeping position, but every time I looked down at him, he was invested in the movie. It was cute how small he looked all snuggled up like he was.

I had to admit that the date had turned out to be everything I expected and more. I was proud of myself for setting up something that both of us loved and it made me feel incredibly happy. I was watching the paintball scene of the movie when I heard the crunching of a stick in the distance. I felt a chill run up my spine and glanced down at Ashton, seeing that he didn't hear it and was still watching the movie. 

It was probably a squirrel, I thought to myself. 

I tried to go back to watching the movie, but I couldn't help but feel paranoid. I had locked the gate behind me...there was no way that someone get in! But the threat was still there. I didn't want the date to be ruined by my paranoia, so I kept my mouth shut. 

It came again, except this time louder and closer and Ashton had heard it. He sat up and looked at me, a worried look in his eyes. 

"What the hell was that?" he whispered. 

"I don't know," I shrugged in response. "An animal?"

"Or it's just Calum."

The two of us looked towards the sound of the voice, seeing Calum standing there, the lights and candles casting shadows on him, making him look creepy. Ashton scooted himself off of me and made sure there was an unwanted distance between us. 

"Calum, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked. "How did you get in?"

"I should've figured you were here with that faggot. That's why you blew me off," he said. "I also knew that the faggot had a crush on you, but I didn't think you were dumb enough to like him back. I thought that you were actually straight and that meant no hope for any of us."

"Listen, I don't care if you call me a faggot or whatever, but I love Ashton and you will not insult him. Not unless you want to get your ass handed to you," I threatened. 

"Love? You don't love him, you idiot," he snorted. "You feel bad for him because he's a loser and nobody would go out with him. Not even his faggot of a best friend. I wouldn't touch Irwin with a ten foot pole either."

"I'm not dating him out of pity, Calum. In fact, the only person I have any type of relationship out of pity for is you. I'm only friends with you because I feel bad that your parents don't trust you and that your other so-called friends don't really give two shits about you. I don't like you at all! In fact, I have a growing hatred for you. You're a dick, Calum. You stand here and insult people and their loved ones right to their faces and think that you're all high and mighty for doing it just like a narcissistic asshole, which is exactly what you are," I spat angrily, now standing a few feet from him. "I would apologize to you for saying this, but I frankly don't give a shit because you don't apologize for what you say and I honestly don't have time for your self-absorbed ass. I'm done faking this friendship or whatever the hell you think it is, okay? So, thank you for crashing my date with my boyfriend. You can kindly get the hell out now."

Calum just stood there, looking at me, his eyes welling with tears and his face getting the hint of a sad expression. It was rude of me to say the things I did, but it was true. It needed to be done and maybe he would get an epiphany to be nicer to people.

"I know I can be an asshole, but I never treated you like shit, Luke. I actually did like you. A lot. But that doesn't matter now."

With that said, he walked off into the dark of the night. I turned around and looked at Ashton, who was glancing down at his hands. "You shouldn't have been so harsh on him."

"What do you mean? I was just telling him the tru-"

"You were. But there's something that you don't know about him," Ashton said quietly.

I don't know what I was expecting from him, but I sure as hell know that it wasn't this. "What are you talking about, Ashton?"

"Calum's gay."


	36. Chapter 35

[Luke's POV]

 

I woke up the next morning, curled into a blanket burrito. I was also kind of upset to find that Ashton wasn't there like I had originally planned, but that's because Calum crashed our date and Ashton insisted that he be taken home instead of spending the night with me. It wasn't like we were going to have sex or anything; I just wanted to be with Ashton as much as possible.

I flopped over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't help but let my mind wander to Calum and what Ashton had told me about him. It now made sense why Calum had such a strong hatred towards Ash, considering that he knew that he was gay and all. But it was my conscience that was giving me problems. I actually felt bad for what I said to Calum last night. A lot of it was because it was heat of the moment, but still remotely true. But it was also the fact that he may have admitted to having a crush on me, in which I didn't expect and I most likely broke his heart (or lack there of?). I knew that it was in my best interest to go over an apologize to him, but that wasn't going to be very easy since he probably hates me and I don't blame him if he never wanted to see me again. What I said was hurtful and I don't blame him one bit for being angry with me.

With a grunt, I hopped up out of bed and went over to my closet to put my hoodie on since it was a little chilly in the house. I heard pans banging around upstairs, so I figured it was my dad making breakfast - or attempting to. I wanted to talk to him about it, being that I basically tell him everything and he's the best at giving advice, but I couldn't do that without telling him that I was gay and was in a relationship and then my plan at getting advice would turn into him being disappointed in me. I didn't want that and I certainly wasn't ready for it.   
I bounded up the stairs, skipping every other one and went to the once clean kitchen to see that there was a floury substance smeared in several places, especially my dad's black t-shirt. He turned around, a smile on his powder covered face, as he stirred whatever was in the mixing bowl.

"Good morning, Luke!" he greeted.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, slept fine actually," I answered, taking a spot at the breakfast bar.

"That's good. Your mum tells me that you had a date last night?" he asked.

"Oh, um, yeah," I replied.

"I hope it went well because I'm making celebratory waffles for you being able to snag a girl," he chuckled, winking at the last bit.

"It went pretty well. It didn't end how I wanted it to, but it didn't ruin anything as far as I know," I told him.

"No goodnight kiss?" he smirked.

No goodnight cuddles. "Yeah, no kiss."

"That's alright. As long as you got the second date, you're golden," he joked.

We were both pretty quiet after that, in which I was thankful for because then I would get to think about what I should say to Calum. I knew that anything I came up with wouldn't mend the heart that I broke or fix what I said, even though I wish wholeheartedly that it could.

I wanted to fix this as soon as I could, but it was still eight-something in the morning and I didn't even know if Calum was awake. I didn't to get him if he was just waking up, but how would I know when he would be? If I called or texted him, I'm pretty sure that he would just ignore it. I would too.

"Dad, I'm going to go get the mail," I announced to him, jumping down from the hightop chair.

He nodded in understanding and I made my way to the door, going out into the slightly brisk air. I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked down the driveway, trying not to think of the cold air hitting my exposed legs. I heard a car door slam and I looked over to Calum's, seeing that it was the Kiwi boy. He had just gotten home from somewhere, seeing as he was wearing the clothes from last night. Had he not gone home at all? I felt a twinge of guilt, assuming that he was that upset that he didn't go home.

I nearly ran into Michael's car as I watched Calum storm inside of his house. I mentally reminded myself that I had to return that today, after I was finished talking with Calum. I went to the mailbox, even though I knew that there wouldn't be any mail.

When I went back inside, my mum was up, sitting in my spot at the breakfast bar. My parents were laughing, oblivious to me coming in. I wanted to take the time and tell them considering they were happy, but I didn't want to be the one to dim the happiness either. I would just have to keep it a secret for the rest of my life. Or until they found Ashton and I somewhere.

"Mum, dad, can I go over to Calum's before breakfast? I have to talk to him," I blurted.

Both of my parents quit laughing and looked over at me like I had three heads. My mum cocked her head to the side. "Is it that important that you have to go this early? Isn't he asleep at this hour?"

"Yeah, it actually is. But he's awake. When I went outside, he just pulled into his driveway," I told them, hoping that they would just let me go talk to him so I could get it over with.

"I suppose. But if Joy and David are asleep, I want you to come right home," she demanded.

I nodded and started to run towards the door, not caring that I looked like I just got out of bed, even though I technically did. I hurried over to Calum's, knowing that if I were to stall, then I would just go home and never have the nerve to talk to the boy. Once I was at his door, I closed my eyes and knocked, knowing that there was no way out of this now. I wasn't going to whimp out. I have to do this.

Nobody answered the door after a few minutes, so I knocked again. I figured either Calum saw it was me and wasn't going to answer or nobody was awake. I waited another few minutes after the second knock and then decided that it was no use if nobody was going to answer, so I turned to go back home.

"Luke? What are you doing here this early?"

I turned to see Joy standing at the door in a robe and pajama pants with a cup of coffee in her hands. I walked back so I was closer and we wouldn't be shouting. "I had to talk to Calum. Is he awake?"

"Yeah, he's having some French Toast. Come in," she said, opening the door up wider. "Be careful with him. He's being a grump."

I walked into the house and heard David talking from in the kitchen. It didn't sound like he was scolding Calum or anything, so I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't come at a bad time. I let Joy go into the kitchen herself and I waited at the door, which I was perfectly fine with because I didn't want Calum to see me first.

"Calum, you have someone here to see you," Joy said emotionlessly as if she was upset with her son.

"I don't want to see them," Calum said flatly, his voice hoarse and low as if he had just woken up.

Joy looked to me and I nodded, telling her that it was important and that I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I didn't care if Calum wanted to see me or not; I had to apologize.

"I'm not going to shoo anyone away and lie to them just because you're too tired to see them. That's your own fault for not getting any sleep last night," Joy scolded.

"Fine," Calum groaned.

I stayed where I was as the chair he must have been sitting on scraped against the floor. I heard his footsteps, which sounded like he was scuffing his feet. When he came into my view, he was looking down. His hair was messy and tousled, basically bedhead, his clothes were wrinkled and I'm sure that he was going to have bags under his eyes. He looked up and the emotionless look on his face twisted into a hurt look of disgust.

"Haven't you said enough to me?" he snapped.

"No. I haven't actually," I told him.

"If you think you can come here and attack me in my own home, there's the door. Don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out," he hissed.

"I'm not going to attack you, Calum. I wanted to talk to you," I told him. "I know. Ashton told me."

He looked at me confused for a minute and then his eyes widened when he realized what I had been talking about. "Come with me."

Without another word from either of us, I followed him in the direction opposite from his parents. I never really realized how far back his house had went, but now that he was taking me to this large back sunroom, I realized Calum lived in huge ass house. Being his neighbor, one would think that I would have noticed he had a back sunroom, but I didn't. It was truly a beautiful room; the walls were a powdery blue with white trim and the furniture matched the room perfectly. It looked like a room that was straight out of a magazine.

Calum sat down in the blue chair and I sat down on the couch. He looked at me with narrowed eyes, trying to make himself look mad, but he only looked hurt. "What did he tell you exactly?"

"You're gay."

He shifted uncomfortably like I was judging him about it. Because a gay man has any right to judge another gay man about being gay. That doesn't even make sense.

"And this is what you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked.

"No - well, yes. I wanted to talk to you about that and apologize for what I said to you last night," I told him.

He rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. It's because you feel sorry for me and you don't want it eating at your conscience or some shit. Well, if you think I'm sitting around here moping, I'm not. So you can leave."

Both of us were silent and he was waiting for me to get up and leave. But I wasn't going to. I wasn't going anywhere until this was resolved and he wasn't acting like I pissed in his milk. He looked at me, prompting me to leave but I stayed still.

"I'm not leaving, Calum. I wouldn't be apologizing to you unless I meant it," I started. "For one, most of the things I said were in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean that I was friends with you out of pity; I didn't mean that at all. I'm friends with you because you were my first friend here and you were right; you have been nothing but nice to me. The truth is that I like you to Calum, a lot. But considering what Ashton had told me, I know that the way we like each other are different. I only like you as a friend, Cal. And it isn't just because I'm with Ashton, even though that has a big part to do with it. You and I are two different people in two different friend groups with two different views on the world. We wouldn't last.

"You can be as angry at Ashton and hate him as much as you want for telling me and for being my boyfriend, but it won't make me be with you. I love Ashton and I don't want you to feel you have to interfere with that and I hope you're willing not to."

Calum was quiet, his gaze dropping to the floor and both of us were quiet for a minute. "I guess I blew any chance of friendship then?"

"No. We just needed to get on the same page," I clarified. "I would also really appreciate it if you wouldn't call Michael and Ashton faggots or insult them in any way."

He nodded in agreement, at least that's what it struck me as. "I'm sorry."

I just nodded, not sure what to say because it certainly wasn't excusable with what he did. "Is that the reason you bully them? Because you don't want them to blow your cover?"

He was quiet once again and then looked up at me with glassy eyes, as if he was about to cry. Who would've thought that I was going to see the big bad Calum Hood cry?

"Y-yeah...there was a party a few years back that we were all at. I actually had a boyfriend that I brought along. Long story short, I got a little too drunk and we went into a bedroom to have a little fun. Well, we thought we locked the door and it turned out that we didn't. Michael and Ashton opened the door, caught us, and I've been harassing them ever since so they would keep their mouths shut," Calum said, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"They're the only ones who know?" I asked quietly.

He nodded frantically and the waterworks broke. He laced his fingers through his knotted hair, crying. I didn't know what to do other than to comfort him, so I went over to the chair and sat on the thick arm, wrapping my arms around the sobbing boy and pulling him into an awkward hug.

"I h-hate myself, Luke! I s-shouldn't be this way!" Calum bawled into my hoodie. "I-I'm not supposed t-to be. I'm a j-jock. I'm p-popular. I should like g-girls."

"Calum, you can't help the way you are. It doesn't matter because love is love, whether or not you're attracted to a guy or girl. You can like boys, Calum," I said calmly to him.

"If my parents or my friends knew, they would disown me. I would be made the laughing stock of the school and footie team. I can't have that. I can't," Calum spazzed.

"Calum, to be bitterly honest, your friends aren't your friends. They're using you for popularity. It doesn't matter what they think. And if they did disown you, you have me, Ashton, and Michael, okay? Your parents wouldn't disown you either. They're too sweet and they love you very much, I promise," I told him, hopefully causing him some comfort.

"How many people know about you being gay?" he asked.

"Michael, Ashton obviously, you, and Michael's friend, Sylvia," I told him.

"You haven't told your mum and dad yet?" he wondered.

"No. For the same reasons as you with the whole disownment thing," I admitted.

Before either of us could say anything, the door was opening and Joy was walking in with two cups. "Oh. Was I interrupting something...?"

"No, I was just getting ready to head home," I told her with a smile.

"Oh, really? I brought you a cup of coffee if you'd like. You can return the cup later on," she said, offering a small smile.

I went up to her and grabbed the cup, taking a sip of the warm liquid. I always loved coffee, but my mum would never let me have any of hers, so I had to have the shitty gas station coffee that either tasted like dirt or hot water. So, Mrs. Hood's was truly a treat.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hood," I said. I looked back at Calum. "I meant what I said."

\----

My mum had been pestering me all day, asking me what I had to talk to Calum about this morning. It was starting to get annoying and I was thanking the Lord above that I was leaving to hang out with Ashton and Michael. I tried my best to lock myself downstairs, but it didn't keep her out any.

"Luke!" my mum called from upstairs.

"Hold on, bug," I said into the phone. "What?!"

"When are you leaving, dear?" she yelled, now outside of my door.

"In a few minutes!" I told her. When there wasn't a response, I put the phone back up to my ear. "Okay, I'm going to leave now because the woman is going to drive me insane."

"Okay. Bye, babe," Ashton purred into the phone.

I hung up with a smile on my face, shoving it into my pocket. I grabbed my wallet and bounded upstairs to get my mum's keys. She was thankfully on the phone now, so she wouldn't be annoying me about where I was going. I grabbed her keys from the bowl and waved goodbye, excited to finally be on the way to my boyfriend's.

The ride there was fast because I basically sped to get there and I when I did, I was thankful to see that Michael wasn't there. I parked in his driveway and rushed up to the door. I knocked once and heard Ashton yell to come in.

I walked in and there wasn't anyone else in the house, which I was kind of thankful for because I just wanted to be alone with Ashton and fool around a little bit until Michael came. Ashton came down the stairs, smiling once he saw me. We met each other halfway and gave each other a kiss on the lips.

"Hey, bug," I chuckled, holding Ashton close.

"Hi," he smiled.

"I have something to tell you and Michael, but I want to tell you both at the same time," I told him, our faces just centimeters apart.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," I smirked. "But until then, I was hoping we could do something else?"

Ashton connected his lips onto mine lustfully and then pulled away. "I was hoping the same thing."

\----


	37. Epilogue

**-A few weeks later-**

[Luke's POV]

Ashton and I were getting farther and farther as far as intimacy goes in our relationship. To be honest, I always look forward to when my parents aren't home and Ashton comes over. Granted, if my parents knew that we were actually boyfriends, there's no way they would let us stay home alone like this. So, that's one of the benefits of not coming out to them yet.

Ashton keeps telling me that I need to tell them because he didn't like having to lie to them. I wanted to think that they were starting to get suspicious of it because I was always with Ashton, but I think that was just me. At least, that's what Ashton told me because he said that he used to think the same thing with his mum and it turned out to be that she was completely oblivious to him acting gay. She thought he was just a special snowflake.

"You're so beautiful like this," I panted to him, looking into his beautiful hazel eyes.

Ashton ran a finger slowly but suggestively down Luke's bare chest and then leaned up to plant a kiss on his lips. "You're hot as fuck like this."

Thankfully, both of us quit the conversation side of things and went back to kissing and touching each other. Not that I complained. Snogging Ashton was one of the best things in the world. We were both so focused on each other. It was as if everything else in the world disappeared and it was only the two of us left on Earth.

"Lucas Robert Hemmings!"

We broke apart from each other and snapped our heads over to the staircase to see none other than my mother standing there with a horrified expression on her face, looking like she just saw someone get murdered in front of her eyes.

I felt my heart literally fall. If it could fall out of my chest, I'm pretty sure it would be on Ashton's very toned peck about now. Both of us were lost for words, especially me. I didn't know what to say or what to do. It would be easier to explain if, well, I wasn't gay and hadn't been keeping it from them for however long.

"Ashton?!" she gasped after seeing that it was Ashton beneath me.

"Hi, Mrs. Hemmings," Ashton croaked out awkwardly.

"Would somebody care to explain to me what the fuck is going on?!" she yelled.

"Um, we were trying to find the remote?" I squeaked.

"This is no time for sarcasm, Lucas," she hissed. She looked between the two of us with narrowed eyes. "I want both of you to get yourselves fully dressed and come upstairs. I can't stand to talk to you in this...this...situation."

My mum stormed upstairs and I turned to look at Ashton. He looked uneasy, as anyone should be in that type of thing. Neither of us were moving. Honestly, I think we were both terrified of what she was going to do.

I went over to where Ashton's shirt was and grabbed it, tossing it lightly to him. I went over and grabbed my Blink-182 hoodie, not sure where my original shirt had even went. Both of us were quiet as we got ourselves put together. There was never a moment where we weren't talking to each other when we were together.

Both of us were ready to go upstairs and Ashton looked to me to lead the way. In all my years of living with my parents, I have never been more terrified of going into the same room as one of them as I have now. In fact, by the time we get up there, my mum will have probably called my dad and he'll already be halfway home.

"Just go, Luke. If we don't, the wrath will be worse because you know what she'll think we're doing, even though the moment was absolutely demolished," Ashton encouraged. I knew he was right, but I just couldn't get myself to go. He grabbed my hand, a small smile appearing on his face. "I'll be going through it right there with you."

With that, I urged myself to walk slowly up the stairs, hoping and praying that the stairs would somehow disconnect from the upstairs. I stopped one or two times, hesitating, but Ashton would just run into me and I wouldn't have a choice but to go up.

It was strangely quiet when we got up there. I didn't hear my mum bustling around like she usually was or any babbling on the phone about what she had just walked in on. It's like she was going to sneak attack us and I wasn't too fond of that idea. I looked back at my following boyfriend, who just urged me with his eyes to keep looking for her.

"M-mum?" I called out, my voice shaking.

"Come to the kitchen," she answered, her tone flat and emotionless.

Ashton and I walked to the kitchen, still hand in hand. She was standing at the counter, noticing us entering and gestured to the barstools for us to sit. Shakily, I went over to the counter and took a seat at one of the stools, Ashton sitting next to me. Our joined hands were under the counter, out of my mother's sight. If she wanted me to be able to talk, I was going to have to have Ashton's hand in mine so he could give me an added confidence.

"So. I don't know how to even start this conversation," she said. "so, I called your father. He's on his way home and we'll have this conversation when he gets here."

"Am I to leave, Mrs. Hemmings?" Ashton asked politely, probably hoping it would give him brownie points. But, my mum still narrowed her eyes at him.

"Being that this concerns you very much, no. You're going to stay. Would you like me to call your mother and tell her that you'll be late for dinner?" she said, her tone still flat.

"If you'd like. Otherwise, I can send her a quick text," Ashton offered.

"I'd much rather speak to her myself. Give her the specific reason instead of sending her a bullshit of an excuse text message," she hissed. Ashton quickly dug his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Anne's cell phone number, displaying it on his phone for mine to see. She quickly entered it in her dial pad and then hit the green button, disappearing from the kitchen.

"She's going to be in for a pleasant surprise when my mum laughs at her and tells her that she already knew about us," Ashton said, trying to chortle a laugh.

I was hoping that Anne wouldn't tell my mum that she knew about Ashton and I dating. Instead of having a cow, she'd have the whole damn barn.

Ashton and I just sat quietly, waiting for my mother dearest to get off the phone or for my dad to come home. Honestly, I didn't know which would be worse. I didn't think they would accept me, and I was hoping that I would be wrong, but it looked like my hopes got too high and then fell to the ground, crashing into thousands of pieces and starting on fire. Not to be dramatic or anything.

Within seconds of each other, my mum came back into the kitchen and the sound of the front door opening and closing, signaling that my dad was home. I was not excited for what was going to go down. I was sorry that Ashton had to go through it with me.

"Liz?" my dad called.

"In the kitchen," she answered.

My dad walked in, looking all professional in his dress shirt and slacks. I didn't like having to see him all gussied up like that because I knew he hated it. My dad was the guy to wear sports shirts and jeans. But he told me that he had to sacrifice comfort for the job.

"Hi, boys," he greeted when he saw us. "Lizzy, what's going on?"

"I just got home from work and I walked in on something no mother ever wishes to see," she started, her eyes zeroing in on me. "Have a seat, Andy. Let's have story time."

My dad sat next to me, looking worried as he anticipated to hear what she had to say. Ashton squeezed my hand tight, letting me know not to panic.

"I walked in on our son snogging and inappropriately touching a boy. In our home," she spat.

"W-What? Who was it?" my dad asked. My mum nodded in Ashton's direction. "Ashton?! No! This can't be! You probably saw wrong, Liz. They were probably wrestling with each other or something."

My mum turned to us. "I don't know, boys. Were you wrestling? Do they snog in wrestling now?"

As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew that I couldn't. For one, she had seen everything and two, Ashton would be disappointed in me. I didn't want that.

"W-We were snogging, mum," I squeaked. "A-Ashton and I are, um, together."

My dad looked like a deer in headlights whilst my mum glared at me. I glanced over at Ashton, seeing him giving me a small smile as he traced circles on my hand.

"What about that girl you've been rambling about for the past few weeks?" my dad asked, obviously not wanting to believe that his son was gay.

"Dad, this is Ashley," I explained. "It's Ashton that I was rambling on about. I just didn't want to tell you that it's was really a boy because I thought that you would both hate me...and him. And it's clear that you do, so. I guess I'll pack my things or something."

Both of them went quiet. Ashton and I went to get up, but before we could leave the room, my dad grabbed my arm, pulling me back down.

"Luke...we don't hate you. At least I don't. I'm not going to speak on behalf of your mother. But you're my son and I love you too much to let something like this ruin our relationship. I'm not fond of the idea, but it's your life and you're going to do with it what you want. I'm not going to stop you. Unless it's murder or something illegal," he explained, putting his hand on my shoulder.

After a minute or two, we went to get up again. Even though my dad accepted it, I wasn't going to stay here and torture myself or my mother.

Ashton and I went downstairs. He sat on my bed as I went into my closet and grabbed out one of the big suitcases from the move. I began packing my clothes in it and then turned to my boyfriend. "Can you get the stuff in my desk and albums and put them in one of the boxes from that closet?"

"Yeah, babe," he said.

Both of us were quiet as we packed my things. I didn't know where I was going to go in particular, probably my aunt Hallie back in my hometown. It was farther away from Ashton, but it was still in driving distance. I would be able to road trip back and forth.

"Ashton, your mother is here."

We both looked up to see my mum standing on the second stair with her arms crossed. Ashton looked to me and then came over.

"Don't leave until we figure out where you're going to live, okay?" he whispered, oblivious to my plans. He kissed me on the cheek quick. "I love you."

"Love you too," I whispered back.

He bounded up the stairs and out of the room he went, the door clicking behind him. I went back to folding my clothes into the suitcase, not being able to help the tears fall down my face.

"Luke, don't pack your things."

I looked to see that my mum was still standing there. It didn't even look like she had left that spot to let Ash out, not that I expected it from her.

"Why shouldn't I? I would hate for you to have to look at your disappointment of a son everyday," I muttered.

"You're not a disappointment to me, Luke," she said. "I love you, very very much."

"You could've fooled me back there," I snorted, continuing to fold my band shirts. 

"I know I acted like I hated your guts, but I was shocked. I walked in on my son getting fresh with his best friend that is a boy after hearing him go on and on about this girl. I didn't know how to process that because I sure as hell wasn't expecting to see that, especially with Ashton," she explained. 

"What's wrong with Ash?" I asked, ready to jump to his defense. 

"Nothing is wrong with him, sweetie. I didn't know that he was gay and I didn't know that you two were...together," she answered. 

I let my defense down and looked back at her, seeing a sorry look on her face. "And getting fresh? What is this, the nineties?"

She let out a laugh, looking relieved that I had forgiven her for her actions. "I'm not up to date with you people." 

We were both quiet for a minute. I looked at my suitcase, figuring that I should start to unpack the pretty neatly folded piles of clothes, but I couldn't get myself to get the motivation to. I looked back to where my mum was, seeing that she was now sitting on the foot of my bed, watching me. 

"How long have you and Ashton been together?" she asked quietly. 

"Almost two months," I said to her. 

There was a look of happiness but hurt on her face. "Why didn't you tell me, Luke? Instead of me being surprised. I wouldn't have reacted the way I did."

"Because...I was scared. I didn't want you to think I'm a disappointment or disgrace. I didn't want you to disown me," I admitted. She got an even sadder look on her face.

"Luke, there's no way I could disown you. I love you so much. You're my baby," she said, a tear falling down her cheek. "I would never. It's just a part of you that I'm going to have to accept, just like your passion for music. It's as simple as that, really. I support you, Luke. I always will and so will your father."

I responded by giving her a hug, which she returned gratefully. It wasn't what I expected after how she had reacted at first. I hadn't expected my dad to say that either. I expected him to command me to get out or something. I know that they probably felt insulted that I thought that of them, but I couldn't help it. It was a natural fear for any gay, lesbian, bisexual, pan, transgender, etc. 

"Your father and I wanted to talk to you a little bit, so come upstairs when you're ready, okay?" my mum said after we broke our hug apart. 

She got up and went upstairs, leaving the door open behind her. I got up from my position and went over to my suitcase, dumping out the two piles and then zipped it back up, bringing it back to my closet and put it on the above shelf. 

Figuring I could do that later, I went upstairs to talk to my parents. I was anxious for what they had to say. I didn't think that it was going to be too bad, at least according to what my mum said about them supporting me and accepting that I was gay. 

"Mum? Dad?" I called out, seeing that they weren't in the kitchen. 

"Living room," my dad answered. 

I walked into the living room and sat in the empty recliner, not sure if I should sit in the empty spot next to my dad or my mum. I figured that it would be better if I could see them both like this anyway. 

"What was it you needed to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, you gave the both of us quite a shock today. We don't hate you or anything to that degree, I promise. But we are going to lay down a set of rules since you have a boyfriend," my dad started. "But for starters, you're grounded."

I furrowed my brow. Were they being serious right now? "What? Why? For being gay? That's not at all homophobic."

"No, no, not for that reason. The only reason you're grounded is because you broke one of the rules we set a long time ago and also, you lied to us for quite a while. I understand your reasoning, but we still don't appreciate the lying. But because it was for that reason, we're only going to ground you for two weeks," he said. 

Two weeks wasn't that bad. Since I was barely ever grounded, they never really did anything except not allow me to go out with friends. Other than that, they let me have all of my electronics, so I would still be able to talk to Ashton without a problem. I just couldn't take him out on any dates or visit him at Hot Topic unless my parents decided to bring me to the mall with them. 

"Okay, but what rule did I break?" I asked. 

"When you started Year 7, we laid down a set of rules for you since you were getting to that age that you would start getting girlfriends - well, boyfriends now - and we said that you were not to have them over unless one of us were home or sneak behind our backs, which you did both. I understand the sneaking around part, but it goes against how we raised you as I had explained before. But that's what got you the two weeks," he explained. 

I nodded in understanding, knowing that I was deserving of it. "What is this new set of rules?"

"Alright, the rule of not having Ashton over when neither of us is home is still in effect. It isn't because we don't trust you and we both certainly know that neither of you are going to get pregnant, but we just aren't fond of the idea of you two..." 

"Getting fresh," my mum answered with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, getting fresh. Anyway, other rules include: no sexting, not that we're going to really have to worry about that, you are to tell us when and where you'll be with him, must ask us for permission before you take him out on a date, you and him will be sleeping in different rooms if you have any sleepovers. The last one is only until we know that you two won't try anything. I don't think either of you will. Oh, and the last one! You will have a curfew and you will follow it unless there are other circumstances," my father told me. "They're pretty easy rules, I'd say. Don't you agree, Lizzy?" 

"Yeah. I think you're going to follow them just fine," she smiled.

"Are you in agreement?" he asked. 

"One-hundred percent," I told them with a smile.

"And as far as you being grounded goes, you're not allowed to leave the house unless you're with one of us and no one is allowed over, okay?" my mum said. 

"Okay," I smiled. 

I went back downstairs to tell Ashton the news and also to inform Michael and Calum that I wouldn't be able to hangout with them for the next two weeks. Also, I had to unpack the little packing that I did. I went to my nightstand, grabbing my phone and seeing that I had a text from Ashton. 

**From: Ashy :D**

**What's the damage? I hope nothing too bad. :( <3**

I smiled, knowing that I could give him mostly good news. The only bad thing about the whole thing was that I was grounded. Other than that, I was still allowed to be with my boyfriend and love him openly (to an extent) in front of my family. I didn't have to continue feeling guilty about lying to them anymore. 

**To: Ashy :D**

**The only damage is that I'm grounded for 2 weeks, so no dates or hanging out :( But we can FaceTime date ;) haha romantic, right? I love you so much, bug <3**

I smiled after I sent the text, happy that all the things that have been bearing weight down on my back were now off. I could be happy without having to hide it. Calum was becoming my friend and was actually starting to become friends with Michael and Ashton. Michael still wasn't sure about it, but he was coming around. I was now able to freely love Ashton with my parents around and give him affection without having to come up with this Ashley character.

Life was finally looking up. Maybe now I should try to talk Pete into hooking me up with a job at Hot Topic so I wouldn't have to wait two weeks to be with my best friend and boyfriend.

\----


End file.
